Who will
win the 2013 crowns?
By Nico
Erle Ciriaco
A girl
for each day of the month – that’s the number of aspirants in this year’s Mutya
ng Pilipinas quest. The 31 hopefuls paraded before media-men during the Press
Presentation held at the H2O Hotel, along historic Manila Bay.
Four
candidates from North America (Canada and the states of California, Arizona,
and Maryland) together with representatives from Germany, Iceland and
Scandinavia make up the list of delegates from the Filipino communities abroad.
Two comes from the National Capital Region (QC and Caloocan) while the rest
hails from outside Metro Manila.
“We
handpicked contestants from all over the Philippines through our regional
screenings in Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro, and Pampanga.
It is Mutya ng Pilipinas’ 45th year and we continue searching for
that inspiration that would spread goodwill for the country,” enthused Jacqueline
Tan, president of Mutya ng Pilipinas Inc.
Sixteen
provinces are represented from those that were handpicked by the committee:
Pangasinan, Palawan, Cavite, Laguna, Tarlac (Gerona), Negros Occidental
(Bacolod), Oriental Negros (Dumaguete), Batangas (Lipa), Laguna (Sta.
Cruz/Cabuyao/Sta. Rosa), Pampanga (Bacolor/Mabalacat/Angeles), Cebu
(Lapu-Lapu/Cebu City), Lanao del Norte (Iligan), Rizal (Cainta), and Davao
Oriental (Davao City).
“We are
searching for four lucky ladies who will represent our campaign platform of
promoting beauty and tourism. It’s a tradition filled with vibrancy since it began
in 1968. This is the third year that we are holding the pageant as the new
holders to the franchise. The former rights owner wanted to transfer the
franchise to another hotelier; being hoteliers themselves running Sulo Hotel.
And it was also because the Sheridan Group of Companies and Mutya ng Pilipinas
share the same advocacy on tourism,” intoned Tan.
At the
close of the midday presentation, Pangasinan entrant Zandra Flores was
proclaimed Press Favorite, after being voted by members of print &
broadcast media. Flores was also named as Miss Photogenic. Prior to joining the
Mutya search, Zandra was part of the Bb. Pilipinas 2013 ‘Gold’ batch, the
oldest country-wide national pageant for Filipino women celebrating their 50th
anniversary this year.
“It’s
such an honor for H2O to be part of this prestigious event as well as venue
partner for such a worthy endeavor as Mutya ng Pilipinas,” remarked Van Kam
Weng, general manager of H2O Hotel & Manila Ocean Park.
“Five
years ago, we opened the Manila Ocean Park and become part of our country’s
tourism initiatives. We are open the whole year round so visitors can see the
beauty of the Philippine underwater scene. We have 14,000 sea creatures with
300 of them indigenous to the Philippines and Asia. H2O, on the other hand, has
rooms with panoramic views of Manila Bay coupled with well-appointed banquet
facilities. Our facilities and the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant showcase the true
beauty of the Philippines to the whole world,” he added.
The
girls were then flown to Sheridan Spa Resort in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan
for the Photo Contest and Swimwear Competition slated July 13th.
“Aside
from the seven overseas hopefuls who were handpicked to represent their
respective communities, we went around the archipelago to find this year’s
batch. You can say we exerted much effort to look for them. We’ve been on this
since January until a fortnight before the Press Presentation. We chose this
batch according to beauty of face & figure, their intellect, and each one
underwent character investigation. The winners will compete in the Miss
Asia-Pacific Quest, the Miss Inter-Continental in Europe, the Miss Tourism
International in Malaysia and the Queen of the Year in China,” revealed pageant
organizer Renee Salud.
Now on
its 45th year, the Mutya ng Pilipinas beauty pageant not only aims
to discover world-class beauty queens, but also to promote Philippine tourism
as well. “I want Mutya ng Pilipinas to become the No. 1 pageant again. Our
winners are women of beauty inside and out. And for her to be called such, she
must have a working knowledge on Philippine tourism,” Jacqui Tan said in
closing.
The
coronation night is slated on July 26, 7 pm at the NBC Tent inside the
sprawling Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The pageant finals will be beamed to
a nationwide audience through GMA-7’s Kapuso
network. Check your local TV guide for time & date of airing.
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