Winning Mister Pilipinas candidates. Image from Armin P. Adina
Five Filipino men have earned the right to carry the Philippine flag in various international competitions at the culmination of the first edition of the Mister Pilipinas Worldwide contest held at the Cove Manila pool club of Okada Manila in Parañaque City on May 6.
Johannes Rissler from Davao del Norte was proclaimed Mister Pilipinas Supranational, and will represent the Philippines in the seventh edition of the Mister Supranational pageant in Poland in July. He now makes one half of the Filipino tandem who will compete in the twin tilts, with the female delegate to the Miss Supranational pageant yet to be named.
Jefferson Bunney, who represented the Filipino community in the United Kingdom in the national competition, was hailed as Mister Pilipinas International Ambassador. He will represent the Philippines in the 15th edition of the Mister International competition which will be held in Thailand in September.
Ken Stromsnes from Mandaluyong City received the Mister Pilipinas Manhunt International title, which makes him the Philippines’ representative to the Manhunt International Male Supermodel contest’s 22nd edition, which will be staged in Vietnam in December.
Pageant veteran John Ernest Tanting from Cebu City took home the Mister Pilipinas Global title and will fly to Thailand for the next staging of the Mister Global competition later this year. The most recent edition held in February is technically the international contest’s 2022 edition.
For bagging the Mister Pilipinas Cosmopolitan title, Ivan Aikon Ignacio from San Jose City has earned the right to represent the Philippines in the Mister Cosmopolitan pageant in Malaysia in October. The competition is organized by the team that conducted the I Am Model Search earlier this year.
The five winners were chosen from a field of 19 aspirants who were presented last month. Aside from the titleholders, the national competition also proclaimed three runners-up. Completing the winners’ circle were first runner-up Lorenzo Isip of Cebu, second runner-up Rei Aldrich Gregorio of Bulacan, and Tyler Gaumer representing the Filipino community in the United States.
Model and former varsity athlete Joshua de Sequera is the national director of the Mister Pilipinas Worldwide contest. He was first runner-up in the 2022 Manhunt International Male Supermodel competition held in the Philippines in October last year.
The 2023 Miss Universe Philippines pageant also held the delegates’ talent presentation during the Mister Pilipinas Worldwide final competition. EDV