Taguig embraces inclusivity in search for the next Katrina Llegado
Mutya ng Taguig contestants (standing, from left) Anshereena Bornilla, Beatrice Mae Batayan-Bolante and Mari Jemaika Vien Orbino with the rest of the aspirants behind them. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina
Before Katrina Llegado collected national titles, and carried the Philippines on the international stage, her first pageant bout was at the Mutya ng Taguig contest. And now the citywide competition is searching for the woman who could follow her footsteps.
The 2025 Mutya ng Taguig pageant presented 35 aspirants representing each of the city’s barangays, with the requirements expanded to lift the age limit, accommodate married women, and accept members of the queer community.
This step in inclusivity took its cue from the Miss Universe Philippines pageant, which had adopted these progressive measures introduced by the Miss Universe Organization.
Llegado has taken part in the Miss Universe Philippines pageant twice. She first joined in 2022 and finished as second runner-up, then returned this year where she earned the title of The Miss Philippines-Supranational.
But her first national pageant after her Mutya ng Taguig stint was the 2019 Miss World Philippines contest where she was proclaimed Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas. She was quinta finalista (fifth runner-up) in the Reina Hispanoamericana tilt in Bolivia.
And now the Mutya ng Taguig pageant’s search for the next Katrina Llegado has attracted a diverse group of women. It is also the second year that the former Makati “EMBO” barangays are included.
Beatrice Mae Batayan-Bolante from Central Bicutan, a newly married 24-year-old woman, was one of the delegates presented to members of the media at Alta Guia in Taguig City earlier this month.
“I honestly take it as an absolute hypocrisy that we ask our beauty queens to be advocates of inclusivity, but we limit them of what they can be, or what pageants they should join,” she said when INQUIRER.net asked for her message to those who do not approve of pageants being inclusive.
“Age, marital status, or even if you have given birth, should not limit you in achieving your dreams. Because being a woman, honestly, generations ago, have already been limited. And if you limit women in any game, you are marching backwards to what we have fought for since we started doing pageantry,” she added.
Barangay South Cembo sent local pageant veteran Mari Jemaika Vien Orbino, who sports many tattoos on her body, something that many frown upon in beauty contestants.
She said she did not have any ink on her body when she joined her previous pageants, and thought that she would never get another chance to compete after getting tattoos.
“Be more open with women joining these pageants. Because with being open we can inspire other women to be themselves, to express themselves, and showcase themselves to the whole world. And in fact, they can boost their confidence. They can live a more fruitful life,” Orbino said.
Anshereena Bornilla from Calzada Tipas expressed her gratitude to the two ladies for their words, herself being a woman pushing 30.
“I have been a ‘kontesera’ (pageant contestant) ever since I was 22. And when they opened the age limit, I was against it. I strongly believed there should be a limit,” she confessed.
“And now that I am 29 years old, I have come to realize how limiting it is for women to put them in a box. My advocacy is called ’30 and Young.’ And to be honest, I don’t need to win, I just need to be here,” Bornilla shared.
The three ladies will slug it out with 32 other contestants for the 2025 Mutya ng Taguig crown on Saturday, May 17, at the auditorium of Taguig City University. /ra
