Shamcey fears invasion of privacy

Miss Universe third runner-up Shamcey Supsup knows she’s now public property. But she hopes she can still keep her private life well, private.

Shamcey, who just arrived in the country after making Filipinos proud in Sao Paulo, Brazil where the Miss Universe was held, said in an interview with TV Patrol that what she fears most is the invasion of her privacy.

“You’re open to the public, medyo mahirap,” Shamcey said.

She explained that she doesn’t want to reveal everything about her personal life.

“Para sa ‘kin kasi may limit to everything. Hindi pwedeng lahat sabihin sa buong mundo. Mas magandang kung sino lang yung involved, sa amin na lang,” Shamcey said.

Relationship with her father

Her father Timoteo Supsup only learned about her boyfriend (Filipino-Chinese LLoyd Lee) through media. This made people wonder if she and her dad had a misunderstanding because of this.

“Whatever it is, my Dad and I are okay. He’s happy for me and I’m excited to see him,” Shamcey clarified.

She also shared that her dad has changed, in a good way, as he has become more confident and less shy. Even before the pageant, her dad has been granting interviews where he talked about Shamcey.

“Sa Papa ko, malaki ang pagbabago. Dati mahiyain po yan, hindi nagpapa-interview. I hope nothing will change with our relationship. It’s more of how people will see or treat us lang, pero how we as ourselves as a family, nothing will change,” Shamcey said.

Proud Filipino

She added that she hopes her most recent achievement will make Filipinos prouder of their roots and heritage.

“Maraming salamat po. Sana po sa nangyari ngayon, sana po maging proud tayo na Pinoy tayo,” Shamcey told “The Buzz.”

The beauty queen added that she has always been proud of her Filipino roots and believes in the excellence of her countrymen.

“We have a lot of people to be proud of the things that we have achieved and I think it’s only us who look down on ourselves. I think we can do something big, just be given a chance,” Shamcey added.

Views on using interpreters

Even though she didn’t get an interpreter in the pageant’s question-and-answer portion and replied to the question directly in English, Shamcey said she’s proud of the Filipino language.

The UP Diliman top graduate also says doing without an interpreter has more impact on the audience.

“Mas may impact kung dire-diretso mo sinasabi yung sagot mo. At kung kumportable ka naman sa Ingles, bakit hindi,” Shamcey goes on.

Support for Leila

She knows that although many are happy with her triumph, others who feel she should have gotten a higher ranking in the pageant are disappointed. Online protests regarding Miss Angola Leila Lopes’ victory have come up.  Some of them have negative comments on Lopes.

“You don’t have to pull each other down to reach the top. I don’t believe in crab mentality,” Shamcey commented.

She added that the Miss Universe 2011 winner must hang on in there after an online news report said Lopes’ documents were falsified.

“She has to be tough and be strong. Because sometimes when you’re in that position, people do many things to pull you down. I hope the truth comes out and I’ll be praying for you,” Shamcey relates.

Future plans

Now that she’s back in the country, many are wondering what Shamcey’s plans are. Some people want her to host, the way Miss Universe 2010 fourth runner-up Venus Raj does.

But Shamcey has no definite plans yet aside from continuing her career as an architect and teaching at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, her alma mater.

“Ang dami ko pong pangarap. I don’t think a lifetime is enough to fit everything I wanted to do. Pero what’s sure is that I wanna be an architect, I wanna teach. And whatever else I can fit in between,” Shamcey said.

Shamcey graduated Magna Cum Laude from UP and topped the board exams for Architecture.

If there is something she wants to improve in local infrastructure, what would it be?

“Hindi mismo on buildings, it’s on urban planning, macro-scale,” Shamcey replied.

Talks have it that Shamcey might be tapped as a tourism ambassador. She shared that there are many beautiful places in the country, but these need improvement in security.

“Marami magagandang places in the Philippines, so I think it's more of a security (problem). A lot of foreigners are afraid to come. Especially in Mindanao, marami pwede places to go to, kaso nga lang they’re scared because of security,” Shamcey observed.