Reigning Miss CosmoWorld Meiji Cruz. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina
MANILA, Philippines—The Miss CosmoWorld Philippines pageant has dangled a P1-million cash prize to attract ladies to its first edition this year, touted to be the biggest in the history of Philippine pageantry matched only by the inaugural staging of the Miss World Philippines competition in 2011.
Reigning Miss CosmoWorld Meiji Cruz, the first Filipino woman to bring home the international title, announced this at the national pageant’s launch held at Kao Day and Night Club at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City on April 12. She is now the franchise holder of the global tilt for the Philippines.
The new national pageant is offering a huge sum to match the international contest’s record-breaking prize package. Cruz pocketed $100,000 (P5.5 million) for winning the Miss CosmoWorld competition held in Malaysia in November, just months after she had ended her reign as Binibining Pilipinas second runner-up.
“It’s a full circle journey for me. From being a candidate, now as chairperson of MCWPH (Miss CosmoWorld Philippines). And I learned so much and I grew as the woman I am today because of pageantry,” Cruz said, adding, “Now I have this opportunity as a precursor of inspiration, of hope and empowerment, to the next beauty queen who embodies the world-class [Filipino woman].”
For Cruz, the new national competition is God’s way of responding to her plea. “I always pray, please make me an instrument of hope, of service. So I believe that this opportunity came for me to provide a space, and provide a tool to young Filipinos to reach their fullest potential,” she shared.
To help her mount the Miss CosmoWorld Philippines pageant, Cruz tapped her mentor Rodgil Flores of the famed “Kagandahang Flores” pageant camp as national director. The two have a decade-long history, starting when she was only a 17-year-old college student trying her luck in the 2012 Binibining Pilipinas pageant.
Flores said “anything and everything for Meiji” has been the team’s motto. “We believe in the platform, which is women empowerment through financial literacy, which will result [in] financial independence,” he said.
The pageant mentor told the Inquirer that as franchise holder, “Meiji has the final approval on everything, on all aspects of the pageant, from marketing and production.” He said that as the contest’s national director, he will also serve as managing director, “directly in charge of the production aspect of all activities.”
He said they are planning to conduct screenings in June and July so that they may have the final list of official contestants by August. The contest is tentatively scheduled in September. Flores added that the search will be nationwide, and the competition is open for provincial and regional franchises.
The Miss CosmoWorld Philippines is open to Filipinos who are assigned female at birth and between the ages of 18 and 27. No height requirement will be imposed, but the applicants must be single, have never been married or borne a child. /ra