THE "Beauty with a Legacy" campaign of the Municipal Tourism Council of Hinigaran town was launched with the inaugural search of "Lin-Ay sang Hinigaran," a sure way ticket to bid for the crown in the Panaad Sa Negros beauty tilt on April 2017.
Poised as the "most glamorous event in town," it dispelled the cold weather and convened Hinigaranons to witness its first ever staging. It may have been a rainy and wet Friday night last week, but the forces of nature failed to stop supporters from cheering all the 13 candidates.
The event proved itself worthy to watch as it delivered show stopping performances from the opening production to regal presentation of evening wear, all of them clad in red gowns and glitters.
Considered as among the priority projects of the Municipal Council for Tourism, the beauty pageant featured designs from young and talented local designers using mostly indigenous materials.
Shells, one the town's export products, were transformed to headdresses, larger than life wings and costumes of great production value. It was such a delightful experience to see everyday products being transformed to one of a kind art pieces and donned by lasses coming from various barrios in one Negros' sea food baskets.
This is the initiative of the town's First Lady, Mary Grace Sevilla Arceo, following a successful staging of an inter-school beauty and brains pageant dubbed as "Lakan at Lakambini ng Kalikasan" two months ago.
With a greater focus on grassroots tourism, the council is geared to make a mark for Hinigaran as a champion of environmental and beauty tourism, among the highly bankable sustainable tourism projects in many parts of the world today.
For one, the staging of the Miss Universe in the Philippines next month is a great testimony to ensure influx of domestic and international tourists, thus legitimizing "beauty tourism" as a great initiative to support a stronger economic backbone.
Taking home the much coveted crown was 17-year-old Mary Glissel Cabatac of Sto. Rosario, Barangay 3. The early stunner is taking Civil Engineering at the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos.
Being the only girl of four siblings, she has seen herself as "one of the boys." That is why, "joining the competition is an opportunity to embrace my womanhood and show to the world that I am confident to win the crown."
Apart from being a beauty queen, her life's greatest ambition is to become an engineer, just like her father. She secured herself a spot in the Lin-Ay sang Negros competition on April, throwing her chances to succeed Victorias City's Alyssa Louise Erika Jimenea, who also served as one of the judges.
Just like Hinigaran, new fiesta queens are slowly filling up the list for the Lin-Ay competition next year, a serious take as to who will emerge as the most beautiful woman in a province dubbed as home to the "sweetest people."