It is quite something to know
that traditionally a Philippine national beauty pageant, which would select
representatives for the international pageant competition scene, actually tends
to have more than one title representation on the line. Some might still recall
how Binibining Pilipinas once decided among its contestants who would go to the
original “Big Three” events of Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss
International. That is no longer the case as Miss World and Miss Universe now
have their own local contests for Filipina representatives. Binibining
Pilipinas has since filled in the gaps with franchises for other minor world
pageants, but even then some of these have jumped ship elsewhere.
Case in point, as The Philippine Star relates it,
franchise representation for “minor” pageant Miss Supranational has slipped
from the fingers of Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) as of this past
Tuesday, July 28. The franchise is now in the hands of Miss World Philippines
(MWP), which has been fielding Filipina representatives for Miss World since
2011. The MWP posted on their official Facebook page regarding the Miss
Supranational franchise acquisition, which when added to their Miss World and
other active pageant franchises now outnumber those still with Binibining
Pilipinas.
Said FB post also includes an official statement from the current national director of the MWP organization, Arnold Vegafria. He notes that having the Miss Supranational representation franchise gives their pageant an additional platform for the empowering of women, in addition to the strengthening of Miss World Philippines’ footprint in the domestic and international pageant scenes. As Vegafria concludes in his statement, “We are thankful for the trust and confidence that the Miss Supranational organization has given us, and we assure them of our commitment and our world-class brand of production values that are always a hallmark of our pageants."
Among the many well-wishers to
Miss World Philippines for their latest pageant franchise is the 11th
and reigning Miss Supranational (2019), Thailand’s Anntonia Porsild. Porsild
posted a video statement of congratulations for MWP and expressed her hope to
see the first Miss Supranational Philippines delegate to be determined in the
next Miss World Philippines pageant. That might take a while however since the
COVID-19 outbreak has pushed the MWP competition to early next year, January 2021,
with many other pageants following suit. Thus far the Philippines has won Miss
Supranational once, with Mutya Datul in 2013, on the second year that BPCI held
the franchise.
Binibining Pilipinas is currently
left with only one “Big” franchise in Miss International, plus lesser pageants
Miss Intercontinental, Miss Grand Intercontinental, and Miss Globe. Miss World
Philippines has, aside from Miss World and now Miss Supranational, the
franchises for Miss Eco International, Miss Teen Eco International, Miss
Multinational, Reina Hispanoamericana, and Miss Tourism. Miss Universe’s
Filipina representative is now drawn from Miss Universe Philippines, the
inaugural pageant for which will be held in October 25.
Image courtesy of GMA News
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