ONE PAGEANT’S LOSER, ANOTHER PAGEANT’S WINNER

By Raphael Porciuncula

The pageant hullaballoo and musical chair in the Philippines has become dizzying. But it comes with a rationale. Overlooked beauties are crowned in another beauty pageant. I can go enumerating on and on from the past just to underscore my contention but let us see just the results of the recent Mutya ng Pilipinas Beauty Pageant.

This year’s Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia-Pacific 2012 Winner is Camille Guevarra, a 19-year old, 5’7” Kapampangan beauty. She was a former candidate in the body summit Cycle 4 in Pampanga.

Among the notables in this batch of Mutya winners were Mutya ng Pilipinas Tourism 2012 winner, Rizzini Alexis Gomez. Rizzini is a candidate to be at the Binibining Pilipinas and failed to make the cut among the official candidates this year which is a very big question. Then she screened for the Miss World Philippines in Cebu and she was the only candidate that showed up during the official screening. She made it as an official candidate in the Miss World Philippines. I was batting for her inclusion for the Top 10 but unfortunately she did not advance to the semifinalist portion. Then I saw this participation. Initially I had negative feelings about her participation as might get the snub again just like the previous pageants. But fortunately, the judges saw in her the winning glitters. 

The first runner-up is Emma Tiglao, a former Superstar Models Asia Winner and another favorite of mine is Larah Grace Lacap, Miss Lions International winner, who also did not make it to the Top 10 of the recently concluded Miss World Philippines. She etched a second runner-up finish in this contest.

It is touted that the winner will participate in the soon to be revived Miss Asia Pacific International Pageant which will be held in a European Country. This pageant should be delineated from the much maligned Miss Asia Pacific World which is based in Korea and has churned 2 seasons already and has always created a big controversial buzz in terms of its staging the pageant. Mutya ng Pilipinas, Inc. used to hold the franchise of Miss Intercontinental. I am at a loss now as one organization, Beyond Filipinas is said to be holding a pageant of its own and one of its title will be a Miss Intercontinental Philippines. Said organization is said to be the franchise holder of Miss Supranational Philippines and yet recently, Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc., announced the participation of Miss Elaine Moll, first runner-up to the Miss Supranational Beauty Pageant to be held in Sopot, Poland.

On the other hand, Rizzini Alexis Gomez will participate in the Miss Tourism International Pageant based in Malaysia. It is hoped that she will do well as there will be no tinges of political color as compared to the Tourism based pageants in China. 

A SECOND LOOK AT MISS ELAINE MOLL: PHILIPPINES’ REPRESENTATIVE TO MISS SUPRANATIONAL 2012

By Dominador Agbayani

The buzz prior to the selection of the winners of the Binibining Pilipinas Beauty Pageant 2012 is that there is a 4^th crown which is the Miss Supranational Philippine title. As the pageant night is nearing the buzz is becoming a great noise until it has evaporated into thin air. Only three titles were announced with corresponding winners crowned. But I have this feeling that there is still an ongoing negotiation in acquiring the franchise because another organization is said to have been awarded the franchise and that they have also announced that they are in the process of selecting their representative as they did in the previous year.

But further, I have also inkling that the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. had already acquired the franchise. They have not included title among major titles because, eventually, the first runner-up can eventually come back and compete for the major titles at stake. Giving Ms. Elaine Moll a major crown during the pageant will eventually disqualify her to contend for the major title of Miss Universe Philippines or Binibining Pilipinas International, titles that every Filipina beauty queen wannabe wants to have in her head if the Supranational title has the same equivalence with the two titles.

With this scenario therefore, does this mean that Ms. Elaine Moll is being groomed by the organization to be crowned with a major title probably in 2014? An example of a previous candidate that went through this route is Maricar Balagtas. She competed in the Miss Globe International and won during her attempt and then she came back and participated again in the Binibini to finally clinch the Miss Universe Philippines title.

It seems that Miss Moll is going through this route. She will have the Supranational Pageant as her test case – training ground. As we all know, Miss Moll seems to have lost focus at times in her competition and that she gets muddled also during the Question and Answer portion. However, no one can object to the fact that with her height, beauty and proper styling, she will stand out among others. These characteristics may have been the reason why the organization is nurturing this beauty. We are hoping therefore for the best for Miss Moll in the Miss Supranational Beauty Pageant. The Miss Supranational Beauty Pageant activities have started in Sopot, Poland and Miss Moll arrived with the signature look of the Binibining Pilipinas. When most of the candidates are seen as going out of the box, our very own Miss Elaine Moll arrived in her so prim and proper persona. Will this strategy work for her? Let us see as the pageant draws near on September 18.