New pageant Mister Asia Pacific forgoes age restrictions

Image: courtesy of Mister Asia Pacific

MANILA, Philippines — Most, if not all, pageants have maximum age limits, thus preventing older aspirants from seeking titles. But a new international competition will forgo such a restriction and will accept applicants no matter how old they may be.

Mikkayla Mendez, organizer of the newly-founded Mister Asia Pacific pageant, shared this with a select group of media scribes in an intimate gathering in Quezon City on Aug. 11. The Australia-based registered nurse and philanthropist flew to Manila for the initial work on the national and international competitions which will both be held in the Philippines next year.

Mendez also said that she applied for the rights to use the title with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in Manila as early as March 2020, but the local agency only released its approval earlier this year.

“We will have a Mister Asia Pacific Philippines pageant, and an international pageant, the Mister Asia Pacific,” Mendez added.

The national competition will select the Philippines’ representative to the international contest, where several delegates from other countries in Asia and around the Pacific are expected to participate.

The Mister Asia Pacific Philippines contest is tentatively scheduled in March next year, while the counterpart international competition will be held in the second half of 2023.

“My goal is to have the top 5, or top 3, do community outreach every month during their reign,” Mendez shared. She said she is planning to monitor the activities of her titleholders and runners-up even from Melbourne where she is currently based.

Mister Asia Pacific organizer Mikkayla Mendez. Image: Philippine Daily Inquirer/Armin P. Adina

She said she has been a fan of pageants for so long that sponsoring competitions no longer feels enough, and she has found the desire to mount her own contest.

Mendez said that aside from eliminating any maximum age requirement, other qualifications have not been finalized yet. However, she said her pageant seeks men who are “masculine, intelligent, and with height.”

The winner of the Mister Asia Pacific Philippines will receive P150,000. She has not disclosed the prize package for the international titleholder as of this writing. Announcements about screening of applicants, as well as local and international franchising, will be made on the pageant’s official Facebook page soon. JB

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