Pageant to highlight culture of southern Philippines

RIYADH: First it was the Masskara Festival, then Panagbenga Flower Festival, and now in October Maranao culture will be featured in this year’s Ginoo & Binibining Pilipinas Saudi Arabia (GBPSA) search.

Rani Basanta, CEO of Special Events Productions (SEP), organizer of the annual search which started in 2004, announced that the screening of aspirants started on July 23, 2010.

“We are inviting Filipino ladies, 14 to 29 years old, to join the initial selection of Binibini candidates to showcase your charm and talent in the most prestigious personality contest among Filipino expatriates and students in the Kingdom,” said Basanta.

Michael Kenneth Din, a towering aspirant at six feet and a native of Nasugbu, Batangas, a province in southern Luzon, was one of the eight male applicants who got selected.

“I only play basketball. I have never joined any personality competition before and it was only due to the prodding of my colleagues that pushed me try it,” said Din.

Aside from Din, who works as shift supervisor in a fast food restaurant, others who showed up in the first screening included a student, a tea boy, a welder, a visual merchandiser and a salesman. Masskara Festival, which began in 1980, is a weeklong festival held each year in Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental province in central Philippines, every third weekend of October, the city’s charter anniversary. Panagbenga, which began in 1995, is a monthlong annual flower festival in Baguio City, summer capital of the Philippines, held in February.

“Since we have featured the Masskara and Panagbenga festivals showcasing northern and central Philippines, it’s about time to parade the richness of the customs and arts of southern Philippines through Maranao culture,” said Ron Jacobe, the man behind the concept of showing the rich and varied cultures of the Philippines through the past pageants staged in 2008 and 2009.

The native Maranao have a fascinating culture that revolves around kulintang music, a specific type of gong music, found among both Muslim and non-Muslim groups of the southern Philippines.

The Grand Coronation night of GBPSA will be held at the Philippine Embassy grounds on Oct. 15. Four pairs from the western, eastern and central regions of Saudi Arabia will compete. Crčme 21 is the main sponsor of the event.

For more updates of the prestigious search, visit http://gbbpilipinas-saudiarabia.blogspot.com

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Munting Nayon News Magazine