But there’s more to her than beauty, and today, she is building things for the commonwealth.
The former beauty queen is a licensed civil engineer and is currently the administrator of the federal highway programs of the Department of Public Works.
After receiving her engineering degree at the Michigan State University, Pangelinan-Dancoe landed a job at DPW.
She briefly left the agency to work for Southwest Solar Technology in Phoenix, Arizona where she handled renewable energy projects.
Now married and with two children, Pangelinan-Dancoe said she decided to come back and serve again her community.
“It’s always been my lifelong goal to come back to the CNMI and practice here,” she told the Variety.
When she first returned, she worked for the private sector and later decided to work again for DPW, which hired her first.
“I think my calling is in the public sector,” she said.
The only female civil engineer at DPW, Pangelinan-Dancoe said their department is trying to fast-track federally funded projects to deliver better service to the public.
“What we’re trying to do right now is to get back to speed, to make sure that all our projects are administered properly and that we get the best services that we can from our professional consultants,” she said.
“We’re also trying to work closely with other government agencies like CUC [the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.] to accelerate our infrastructure projects,” she added.
DPW projects are mainly funded through the Federal Highway Administration but some are getting funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the stimulus law.
Pangelinan said DPW wants to make sure that these projects are completed on time and in compliance with federal standards.
“Hopefully, in the future we can see more positive improvements as far as infrastructure is concerned,” she added.
