Mutya ng Pilipinas President Cory Quirino (third from left) presents her reigning queens (from left) Marcelyn Bautista, Iona Gibbs, Shannon Robinson and Megan Cambell, and candidate Juvel Bea. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina
MANILA, Philippines—The Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant has already scored two international titles with the first two queens it sent abroad, and both victories are the first-ever for the Philippines. What is turning out to be a banner year for the national competition came after a pandemic pause, with a coronation show in December last year. For 2023, it has likewise scheduled another finals ceremony in the last month of the year.
Mutya ng Pilipinas took a two-year break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and returned with its 52nd edition late last year. Cory Quirino, the organization’s president, told the Inquirer at a press conference at the CWC Interiors in Taguig City on June 21 that the 2023 coronation show will be held again in December, also at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The 2023 final competition is scheduled on Dec. 10, and will see winners who will carry the task of representing the Philippines in the Miss Intercontinental, Miss Tourism International and World Top Model contests. The newly acquired franchises will also be officially included in the national crowns—the Miss Environment International and Miss Chinese World pageants.
Reigning Mutya ng Pilipinas-Luzon Shannon Robinson became the first Filipino woman to win in the Miss Environment International pageant in India earlier this month, while 2018 semifinalist Annie Uson scored the Philippines’ first victory in the Miss Chinese World contest in Malaysia last month.
“We’re working on two more titles. You see, Fred (Yuson, Mutya ng Pilipinas chairman) wants all our girls to compete abroad. But we cannot just get any international pageant,” Quirino shared with the Inquirer. Robinson did not initially receive a global assignment when she captured her title, which is equivalent to a first runner-up spot.
Robinson’s fellow runners-up, Mutya ng Pilipinas-Visayas Megan Campbell and Mutya ng Pilipinas-Mindanao Marcelyn Bautista, have no international assignments yet, and Quirino said the organization plans on sending them both to global contests, too. But for now, Yuson said they are targeting “five-for-five” wherein the three original main titleholders of the national contest would also bring home the crowns from their respective competitions after Robinson’s and Uson’s triumph.
Iona Gibbs was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas and was later appointed as the country’s representative to the 2023 Miss Intercontinental pageant. The two other ladies scheduled to compete abroad are Mutya ng Pilipinas-Tourism International Jeanette Reyes and Mutya ng Pilipinas-World Top Model Arianna Kyla Padrid. All three are set to compete in the last quarter of the year.
Gibbs said she is thrilled for both Robinson’s and Uson’s victories. “I just know that Mutya has prepared us so well already for all the competitions we’ll be joining. So it honestly just added motivation to do my very best in the upcoming Miss Intercontinental pageant,” she told the Inquirer.
And with the 2023 Mutya application scheduled to begin in July, Gibbs said she hopes to “find girls who are very similar to me and my batch, girls who are very bright, very beautiful inside and out, and always supporting each other.”
Robinson, meanwhile, offered her international title to the country and the Filipino people, and said her journey to the crown made her discover things about herself. “It was a realization of faith and self worth. I prayed a lot, I prayed more than I’ve ever prayed in my entire life. I prayed for guidance, and security, being calm. It has really opened my eyes to the power of prayer,” she shared.
The Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant is one of the longest-running national competitions in the country, with a legacy of international titleholders since its inception in 1968. It has made the Philippines the most successful country in both the Miss Asia Pacific International and Miss Tourism International pageants. /ra