Photo from Sandra Lemonon’s Instagram stories
CAPAS, TARLAC – Sandra Lemonon’s beauty and poise made her stand out in a sea of white hard hats and reflectorized green safety vests during the economic managers’ briefing on the “Build, Build, Build” program Wednesday.
And who would have thought that after her boo-boo at the Bb. Pilipinas 2018 pageant last March, where she missed the chance to win a crown after admitting during the question-and-answer round that she knew nothing about the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure program, she would still land a job at the Department of Transportation, and to promote the build program.
Lemonon confirmed to the Inquirer that she now works at the DOTr, after she signed a contract with the agency two weeks ago.
According to a DOTr communications officer, Lemonon’s new task was to become “the ambassador for ‘Build, Build, Build.’”
In a chance interview, Lemonon said it was actually her third time to attend a briefing on the infrastructure program.
“It’s a really good experience because you know my incident from Binibini—I was really unaware of this program. But thanks to the DOTr, they really taught me what’s going to happen in ‘Build Build, Build,’” she said.
“So I’m really excited for everything that’s happening because, of course, it’s about to change the lives of everyone,” she added.
The government plans to roll out 75 “game-changing” flagship projects alongside spending P9 trillion until 2022 to usher in the “golden age of infrastructure.”
During the pageant last March, this was Lemonon’s response during the crucial interview portion: “Actually you know what, I studied so much for this Q&A, but sadly that’s something that I don’t know really much about. But at least I’m here trying to answer a good question. Thank you.”
The question was asked by judge Edgar Saavedra, who chairs the infrastructure conglomerate Megawide Construction Corp.
On her Instagram account, Lemonon posted a so-called “IG story” that she was “very excited to witness the future of our country” and used the hashtag “#buildbuildbuild.”
She also posted a video of the economic managers on-site, as well as a photo with Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade and other officials during her “first official team meeting with the DOTr.”
Lemonon said she was “very excited to learn more about the infrastructure projects happening and happy to be part of the DOTr team.”/lb