2007 Mutya gives up crown

Last Saturday, Funfare headlined a story that the reigning Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia-Pacific, Zephora Aldana Mayon, might give up her crown for reasons that followers of the contest (one of the oldest pageants in the country) could only speculate about.

Is Zephora really quitting?

She is, judging from a letter written in Filipino and dated July 19, 2007, she and her mother, Lilibeth Mayon, sent to Roberto de Venecia, president of the Mutya ng Pilipinas, Inc. Mother and daughter, said that, 1) the terms of her contract with Mutya were not clear to them, and 2) she was pagod na pagod na (very exhausted) with what

has been happening after she won the title almost a month ago at grand finals held at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), main sponsor of the contest.

Thanking the Mutya people for all the support given her, Zephora complained that the Mutya people have been trying to turn her into a princess (“ginagawa akong princesa”) even if she doesn’t feel like one and that she doesn’t understand why they wanted to change her (“gusto nilang baguhin ang pagiging ako”) when her being her was what, she believed, made her win.

Zephora also said that she was tired of all the “panlalait sa akin” (their mocking me) and the “pagtatanggal ng self-esteem ko,” that’s why she had to quit now and not wait for the time when, “dahil lang sa korona ko” (just because of my crown), she would lose her faith in and respect for herself.

“Hindi ko nasanayan ang pakikipag-sosyalan dahil pamula sa pagkabata ko namumuhay ako ng simple,” she said, meaning she isn’t used to socializing which, if you ask anybody, is unusual for a beauy queen who is required, among other duties and obligations, exactly that — socializing. Why, you might ask, did she join a beauty contest in the first place if she wasn’t ready to face up to the responsibility and the reality that winning would inevitably change her life and, eventually, herself?

In closing, Zephora reiterated that she was fed up with the panlalait and if giving up the crown would stop it, then she would give it up and “hindi ko ipagpapalit ang pagiging totoo ko sa sarili at pagkatao para lang sa katanyagan.” Again, didn’t she or whoever her advisers are know that winning would turn her into a overnight celebrity? If Zephora is averse to “sosyalan,” she should have stayed inside her shell, shouldn’t she?

A Funfare source said that the Mutya people might ask Jacqui Rodriguez, the Mutya ng Pilipinas-Overseas Communities (30 percent of the contestants were from Filipino communities abroad), to take over Zephora’s vacated throne and compete in the Miss Asia-Pacific International slated later this year (venue not yet known).

“Isn’t she winsome and captivating?” asked De Venecia, referring to Jacqui (a niece of actress Vivian Velez) who is now in L.A. and is expected back in October. “How I wish our other winner,” referring to Zephora, “had a reasonably stronger personality, expressive and better disposition, deserving of her title, just like the other Mutyas of the recent past.”

Oops! That’s a loaded statement, isn’t it?

Moral of the story?

Plain and simple: If you are not up to it, don’t aspire for it. Stay where you are.
FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
Philippine Star