MENTORS (from left) Ruffa Gutierrez, Laureen Uy, Bianca Valerio and Jasmine Curtis-Smith.
After a six-year hiatus, the premier pageant for Filipino teenagers stages a comeback, assembling an elite team of mentors to guide the aspirants and eventual teen queen.
At the launch of the 2014 Miss Teen Philippines pageant at the New World Hotel in Makati City recently, Jasmine Curtis-Smith was also introduced as the new face of the tilt.
“Why would I decline such an invitation? This is a great opportunity for me,” Smith told the Inquirer when asked whey she accepted the pageant’s invitation.
She added: “It’s not everyday that you get to be part of a worthwhile event. I am attracted to the pageant’s focus on education. I value education, too. We live in a time when intelligence and confidence are highly regarded anywhere in the world.”
Also at the event was 1993 Miss World second runner up Ruffa Gutierrez, who is part of the contest’s “advisory council” together with Smith.
Model-host Bianca Valerio was also tapped to teach the contestants about poise and personality development, while hair stylist Jing Monis and makeup artist Robbie Piñera were invited to share beauty tips. Also in the council are 2005 Miss International Precious Lara Quigaman and stylist Laureen Uy.
Gutierrez said she will “share my experiences with the contestants … to inspire them to become role models like us.”
Gutierrez also singled out the tilt’s relevance, saying, “this is what we need right now. It is very important that the pageant partnered with the Department of Education.”
Valerio said she will give the candidates copies of her book “Face to Face” to teach them about confidence and embracing one’s self.
Both Monis and Piñero are excited to work with the teenaged aspirants, and remind them to not be in a rush growing old and to just act their age.
Piñero said “teenagers tend to go overboard and put on too much make up. We don’t see their real beauty.”
Monis agreed: “They tend to experiment a lot and copy beauty queens, which make them look old.”
The two local style icons promised to groom the young ladies according to their age, and share with them tips on how to style themselves appropriately for any occasion.
Meanwhile, organizers of the 2014 tilt said the lawyers who conducted the annual pageant from 2004 to 2007 found their hands too full for the demands of a nationwide beauty tilt.
“They were also busy with their day jobs, so the pageant was put on hold,” organizer Karen Arceo told the Inquirer.
Her family’s One Asia Touch Point group recently partnered with the pageant’s owners and worked its magic on the hibernating contest.
Now with an advisory council composed of an esteemed group of mentors, and with its partnership with the Department of Education, Arceo hopes to give the teen tilt a reboot.
Cash and prizes worth over P2.6 million are at stake for the winner, who will become DepEd’s Education Ambassadress, and a delegate to the Southeast Asian Youth Program and National Youth Parliament. She will also be mentored by members of the Board of World Academy for the Future of Women and other global change-makers.
Young women ages 13 to 18 from all over the country are invited to submit their application until tomorrow. Registration details and other information are available at www.misssteenphils.org or interested parties, can call (02) 8112151.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer is a media partner of the 2014 Miss Teen Philippines pageant.