Background
Janina San Miguel came from a poor family living in a residential compound in Quezon City, Metro Manila. She is the eldest of three children, with her father working as a jeepney driver and her mother as a laundry washer or "labandera" (hired to wash other people's clothes).
At the time of the Binibining Pilipinas 2008 pageant, San Miguel was a freshman student taking up broadcast communication at the University of the East in Manila, with the ambition of becoming a professional broadcaster. She had previously garnered first runner-up at her school's Mister and Miss UE pageant, and said she joined the Binibining Pilipinas competition to gain "experiences, new friends and opportunities".
Read more about this topic: Janina San Miguel
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