Mutya ng Pilipinas-Luzon Shannon Robinson/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — When pageant rookie and legacy beauty Shannon Robinson received the Mutya ng Pilipinas-Luzon title in December, she was just a notch shy of representing the country in an international competition. But now the national organization has announced that she will still sashay on the global stage after all.
In a press conference held at the CWC Interiors in Taguig City on March 29, the Mutya ng Pilipinas organization said it has acquired the franchise for the Miss Environment International pageant and will send Robinson to compete in the global tilt’s second edition in June. The statuesque beauty initially thought there was a mistake when she first learned about it, she told the Inquirer at the sidelines of the event.
“I was actually at an airport on my way back from Malaysia. I saw a little poster with my face on it, I thought it was a rumor going around or something, but it was actually from Sir Fred (Yuson, Mutya chair) and Ms. Cory (Quirino, Mutya president), kind of surprising me into the announcement,” she shared.
And when she finally confirmed it with the pageant’s officials, she called her grandmother right away. “She’s loving this journey for me, and everything that I do is really for my late lolo who passed away. She was my first phone call, [then] obviously my parents, and [last was] my partner. That was it, no one else knew about it,” Robinson said.
She also admitted that she felt as if she fell short when she failed to secure a crown that would send her to an international competition in the national pageant in December. “If there was anyone who said ‘no’ she was not being truthful. I wasn’t focused on anyone else. But in my heart, I did everything I could to win a big title, to represent the country,” Robinson confessed.
At 28, she also felt it was her only shot. “It’s now or never. I wanted not to beat my mom, but I wanted to get it for her,” she continued. Her mother is 1989 Mutya ng Pilipinas first runner-up Raquel Mababangloob.
With her biggest battle beckoning, Robinson said, “I’m spending the two months being super healthy, exercising as much as I can. I’m training very hard with Aces and Queens on my walk, question-and-answer, and personality development. I just want to show you who I am in an authentic way, as well as someone who takes this seriously, who works to get better.”
The international pageant’s president, Rushikesh Mirajkar, flew from India to witness Robinson’s proclamation as the Philippines’ representative to his pageant. And she had an inkling that the official could be “looking for someone that’s hopefully a little bit unique in her story, who really does advocate for good, and who wants to win for the right reasons in bringing light to the environment, no matter whichever they or myself chooses for our advocacies, whether its emotional or about the Earth.”
Robinson promised to be “a super hard working” queen if she wins the international crown. “I will say yes to every opportunity that can benefit anybody, whether it’s our country, India, wherever it may take us.”
She is scheduled to leave for the South Asian country towards the end of May for the competition that will culminate on June 11. The Philippines’ previous representative finished second in the global tilt’s first edition held last year and received the Miss Ecology International title. EDV