MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – For a full four minutes, Filipinos were perfectly happy that their representative to the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant was first runner-up. Even Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach who now wears the crown on her head was standing comfortably in the background with second runner-up Miss U.S.A. as Miss Colombia basked in the glory of being (erroneously) named the most beautiful woman in the universe. Wurtzbach had accepted her second prize status as her fate.

For Filipinos, being first runner-up is as important as being the winner. (Even the pageant itself recognizes the importance of being second: “If for any reason, the new Miss Universe is unable to fulfill her duties, the first runner-up will become Miss Universe.”)

To validate our point, we turn our attention to Dr. Jose Rizal, the beloved national hero of the Philippines. His imposing monument, unveiled over a century ago,  stands in the middle of Manila’s — and Asia’s largest — urban park, Luneta. It is among the most revered and visited monuments in all of the Philippines.

Not too many people know, unless they googled it, that the monument was not the winning entry but rather the first runner-up in an international competition to select the best design.

The monument was designed by Richard Kissling of Switzerland. The first prize in the contest was the design by Carlo Nicoli of Italy.

The rest, as they say, is history.