Behind the scenes with Mutya ng Pilipinas queens Cynthia Lotuaco-Ejercito, Maricel Morales, Alice Crisostomo, Ganiel Krishnan and Ritchie Ocampo —ARMIN P. ADINA

The Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant gathered five of its queens from its 50-year run for a special project no other national beauty contest has ever mounted.

The five winners, one each from the pageant’s five decades, will be featured in the coffee-table book “MUTYA: 50 Years of Pageantry and Purpose” celebrating the pageant’s milestone anniversary this year.

No other national beauty pageant in the Philippines has published a book to mark its anniversary.

The shoot took place at the CWC International Furniture showroom in Taguig last month, and featured Mutya ng Pilipinas winners Alice Crisostomo (1970), Cynthia Lotuaco-Ejercito (1988), Maricel Morales (1993), Ritchie Ocampo (1999) and Ganiel Krishnan (2016).

Only Inquirer Lifestyle was allowed access to the shoot, helmed by lensman Patrick Uy.

Gela Laurel Stehmeier from MAC Cosmetics Philippines led the glam squad, with hairstyling by House of Laurel. Designer Rajo Laurel provided the gowns and accessories worn by Crisostomo and Krishnan.

For the shoot, the queens wore the set of Mutya ng Pilipinas crowns provided by jeweler Hoseki for the pageant’s 2017 edition. The new set was not yet available at the time of the shoot.

Cover of the book set to become a collector’s item

“We published the book because we want to share with the people our journey to our 50th year,” Mutya ng Pilipinas Inc. president Hemilyn Escudero-Tamayo told Lifestyle during the press presentation last week. The book will include the people behind the success of the pageant, and all the beauty queens and their personal stories of success.

“We want to acknowledge the women and everybody who helped make this happen. It’s our heritage,” Mutya ng Pilipinas, Inc. chairperson Frederick Yuson told Lifestyle.

For Tamayo, the book is a celebration of everything about Mutya ng Pilipinas, the brand’s vanguards and the legacy of its beauty queens.

For Yuson, the book serves as an anchor as they bring the pageant into the digital era. “It showcases what we were and what we are going to be for the next 50 years,” he said. “We will also show you the new Mutya.”

Content

The book has about 150 pages filled with photographs and stories on the pageant’s 50-year history.

There are images that evoke nostalgia from the pageant’s earlier years, as well those that celebrate the new breed of queens. It also contains insightful stories about the pageant’s journey, as told by its cofounder Leandro “Biboy” Enriquez, and its past presidents Roberto de Venecia and Jacqueline Tan-Sainz, and queen mentors Renee Salud and Rodgil Flores.

“MUTYA: 50 Years of Pageantry and Purpose” will be launched at the homecoming dinner for pageant winners at the Ascott Bonifacio Global City in Taguig on Sept. 12.

To purchase copies, contact the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant through its website or Facebook page.

The Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant’s 50th anniversary edition will culminate at the grand coronation night at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, on Sept. 16.