Mutya ng Pilipinas supporter wants answers from organisers

(Editor’s note: Below is a letter sent to The Philippine Times by a supporter of the Mutya ng Pilipinas Melbourne 2014)

Dear Editor,

I am writing as a supporter of all the girls who competed in the Mutya ng Pilipinas held on 14 June 2014.

I’ve attended many pageants in my life and by far this has been the most unenjoyable to watch.

Here is my opinion:
The pageant was supposed to start at 6pm but did not start until 7.45pm.
The food was absolutely horrible and the service was appalling.
The attention was drawn to some people who decided to dress for the occasion.
The host for the evening was very hard to understand because he had no control of crowd.
There were too many people involved hence the event turned out to be chaotic.

But, here’s my concern which will probably clarify my opinion stated previously.

After having a conversation with one of the contestant, it appears that they were not made aware of potential awards they could win throughout this whole experience. Awards were just being handed out on the night like it was “Christmas”, even to the one whom many people and I believe is not deserving of it. It may be due to the judges who I found unfit to choose the right girl to represent us in the Philippines. It was announced that all the girls were winners on the night.

After leaving the event, I immediately thought that maybe I would be able to pass on my feedback directly to the organisers.

I then found a Facebook wall that posted the results of the event—Hector Calara-Photography. I knew at the time that Mr. Hector Calara was heavily involved with the organisers and I asked if he knew to whom I could pass my feedback. I was then blocked from this wall and was not able to get the answers I sought. After certain exchanges, I was informed that Mr Hector Calara is the Assistant National Director of the so called organisation. blocking me (a patron of the event) from his wall. I found that this was a poor decision made by someone in position. He then continued to post on his wall which said, “Some supporters of a Losing Candidate like Jeremy Emana cannot accept the results”. The Assistant National Director of Mutya called Sharina Timbayan a loser? I thought. 

Yesterday at 9.30am, while listening to 92.3 Hoy Pinoy, I called in to ask Ms. Choy Symes who introduced herself as the National Director of the organisation if the chosen judges met the criteria set by Mutya ng Pilipinas organisation since she is trying to have the rights for the name here in Australia. My question was sadly not answered again. She also claimed that after the fund raising events, there was only $450 remaining after so many businesses that sponsored the events. That I found unbelievable. 

Now, given the opportunity. May I ask the organisers of the Mutya ng Pilipinas Melbourne to clarify my enquiries which are as follows:

Before you started looking for candidates, was the program already set?
When you found the contestants, did they all meet your requirements in terms of height, weight etc.? Why were you measuring the girls on the night? Surely you would measure them right at the beginning as part of the qualification process. Is it to bring more people in to the event and giving false hope to the candidate and her supporters?
Were the contestants given all the potential awards as part of the contract prior to joining?
Why were there special awards that came as a surprise to contestants?
For the most popular award, I noticed that Kim Fyef’s photo was released on 11/03/14 and the other 3 girls on the following day and Sharina’s was released on the 24/03/14? Was that a fair competition?
Who chose the judging panel and did you have any affiliation with any of them or perhaps a parent of one of the candidates?
When were they introduced to the contestants?
Was everything provided for the contestants?
Why was it possible for one of the judges to say to the winner that they told her she will win?
To the organiser: How long have you been friends with the winner’s mum?
Finally, since the event was filmed, is there a possibility to view the event once again? I’d like to confirm with the judges who in their own opinion had the best walk?

I am doing this not because the contestant I supported did not win. It is because I feel that the truth needs to come out. I speak on behalf of most of the people who spent their time supporting the contestants and expected to watch a fair competition, but it seemed to me like it was not. Let’s support each other and choose our leaders wisely. Let’s be professional. 

To the organisers, please prove me wrong. Was this an experiment?

Kind Regards
Jeremy Emana