Arnold L. Vegafria

MWP national director shares about holding a pageant during a pandemic

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

The global pandemic has greatly affected lives and enterprises, including pageant platforms on the national and international levels. In 2020, only a handful succeeded in holding their annual searches.

In the Philippines, the MWP was one of two organizations that did not hold their yearly search in 2020. Like the BPCI, their 2019 queens are some of those with the longest reigns.

During an interview, national director Arnold L. Vegafria told us what his thoughts were on holding a pageant during a pandemic. "We had no pageant last year. The IATF, finally, gave us a signal to go on. This year is hard because of the protocols, which made the production kind of expensive because of them.

"The important thing is that I make sure that the candidates are safe, as well as the people working around them - like the production crew. They have antigen tests everyday and then every seven days, they do their RT-PCR tests."

The tests may be bothersome to some but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

"When it comes to staging, it will be at the Grand Ballroom of Okada Manila on July 25. But we cannot accommodate a hundred per cent of the seating capacity - only half of that. We will also air the show online and start early at 6pm so we end before 11pm, which is the start of the curfew hour in Pasay City.

"Fans can watch it online in all digital platforms, including pay-per-view - KTX, iFlix, WeTV and Globe Upstream. There will also be a public broadcast over the GMA-7 network."

Finding suitable entrants may be a sourcing problem to most pageant systems because of the travel restrictions. While some resort to online screening, the MWP does theirs with the physical presence of the hopefuls, including those from outside Metro Manila.

"Despite the pandemic, we received 300 applicants - that we trimmed down to 45 - coming from cities and provinces all over the Philippines. This time, we have eight titles and two runners-up, a total of ten winners. So there will be eight opportunities for our country to be represented in the international arena.

"Thank you to all our sponsors. Without them, there will be no show. To the candidates, thank you for making the Miss World Philippines organization your home and pageant of choice. Enjoy the journey and have fun. To fans and followers, please support us. We are not just a mere pageant but an advocacy. Money generated from the pay-per-view platform goes to charities of our foundation, as well as to young girls we send to school."

Out of the 45 official candidates in this year's search, there will be two runners-up and seven winners who will each wear the title of Miss World-Philippines, Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas, Miss Eco Philippines, Miss Eco Teen Philippines, Miss Multinational Philippines, Miss Tourism Philippines, and Miss Environment Philippines. The 2021 Miss World Philippines final show will be aired over the GMA-7 Rainbow network on August 8, 2021 starting at 10:15 pm.