Upper Lake >> Sarah Panlibuton Barnes hails from Lake County and is the first Filipino-American to ever win the title of Lin-Ay kang Antique, or Miss Antique.
Barnes is the granddaughter of San Francisco community activist Asuncion Panlibuton and businessman Gregorio Panlibuton of Antique, Philippines. Her grandfather stowed away on a boat in the early 1920s at 12 years old to work in the fields of Stockton. Barnes’s parents were stage actors in San Francisco and national repertory companies.
Raised in the rural community of Lake County, a graduate of Upper Lake High School, she did not know much about the language or the culture of the Philippines.
In 2015 Barnes graduated cum laude from Soka University, a private four-year college dedicated to providing quality academic education for future global citizens with a major in humanities and Chinese.
Barnes is a published writer, activist and has been a community worker in improvised communities of Nanjing, China and tribes in
South Dakota.
In December, Barnes won the title of Miss Antique. During the top-five final round of the beauty pageant, she was asked to create a hashtag to promote the province as a top tourist destination. In an answer that won her the crown, she spoke about her journey back to her ancestral home, discovery of her rich cultural heritage and expressing a desire for other “long-lost children of Antique” to do the same, culminating with hashtag #AntiquenosComeHome. Barnes views this as the culmination of a life-long search for her roots and an opportunity to hel others embark on that journey.
“Growing up in rural Northern California, I didn’t have any Filipino classmates, and my only connection to my heritage was my mother and grandmother,” Barnes said. “I felt alienated and excluded at times because of my Filipino heritage in a largely white community. When I came home to Antique and competed in the pageant, I did so because I was compelled to take the opportunity to further develop and enrich my identity. I had no idea how profound the experience would be in terms of igniting my passion to serve our province and to help other second- or third-generation Filipino-Americans do the same.”
Barnes is now the Antique provincial tourism officer; wherein she works to build immersive tourism experiences that directly benefit the local communities while also prioritizing environmental conservation.
Email iconsult@pacific.net for more information or contact Sarah Panlibuton Barnes on Facebook.
