Pageant veterans join Hiyas ng Pilipinas 2024

The 45 official candidates of Hiyas ng Pilipinas 2024/ARMIN P. ADINA

Veterans of national competitions were among the successful applicants who hurdled the selection of the official candidates of the 2024 Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant, among them alumnae of the Miss Universe Philippines and Binibining Pilipinas contests.

The 45 official candidates of this year’s edition of the Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant were presented to media scribes and online content creators at the Samanea Garden of Acacia Hotel Manila in Muntinlupa City on Saturday, Aug. 24.

Fresh from their participation in the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant in May, Isabel Pelayo from Davao City and Keana Ysabel Macuja from Makati City crossed over to the Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant to pursue their dreams of snagging a national title.

Joining them were 2023 Miss Grand Philippines finalist Rona Lalaine Lopez from the province of Pangasinan, and Sheryl Velez from Mandaluyong City who just participated in the 60th Binibining Pilipinas pageant last month.

Also among the roster of official candidates was Jasmine Paguio, who represented the Filipino community in Toronto, Canada, at the 2022 Miss Philippines Earth pageant, a hybrid competition that was initially held virtually, then transitioned to physical events at the homestretch.

But the Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant did not only attract national pageant veterans for its 2024 competition, among the seasoned aspirants who were introduced at the presentation was an international titleholder, Karla Majam from Sta. Rosa, Laguna, who was crowned as Miss UniWorld last year.

In last year’s pageant, Bb. Pilipinas alumna Fatima Kate Bisan from the province of Sarangani was crowned as Hiyas ng Pilipinas-Tourism World. She is now one of the hosts of “Wil to Win” on TV5, and is also currently preparing for the Miss Tourism World contest.

Hiyas ng Pilipinas Chair Mike Sordilla said more than half of the 45 official candidates have never set foot in Manila before Saturday’s presentation show. The national organization conducted screenings in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao to get closer to aspirants who may find it hard to fly to Manila to apply.

“Majority of our girls, especially coming from Mindanao, these are very poor girls, like, some of them can’t even afford to fly here. So, it would be best if the organization goes there, so they will just be near and they will have the opportunity,” he told INQUIRER.net in an interview.

Some of the delegates come from places people seldom see represented in national competitions, such as Isulan in Sultan Kudarat, Laoang in Northern Samar, Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, Socorro in Siargao Island and Trinidad in Bohol.

“Instead of doing one screening in one place, we go to their provinces, to their places, so we get the girls. There is a lot of potential from these provinces. Luzon has dominated entertainment media, that it gets hard for those coming from the Visayas and Mindanao,” Sordilla said.

The 2024 Hiyas ng Pilipinas pageant will choose the country’s representatives to the Miss Tourism World, Miss Elite, Miss Continental World, and Miss Omninational competitions.

Another Hiyas ng Pilipinas queen who is gearing up for an international competition is Juvyel Anne Saluta, who was crowned alongside Bisan in last year’s competition, and is now set to represent the Philippines at the 2024 Miss Elite pageant in Egypt next month.

Saluta also addressed the guests who attended Saturday’s program to share her thoughts about aiming for the Philippines’ first victory in the Miss Elite pageant. The country’s highest placement, so far, was the first runner-up finish posted by Shanon Tampon in 2022.