MANILA, Philippines — A bidding war pushed an auction item’s price to 14 times more than the initial bid at the charity gift auction night of the 13th Mister International contest. The item? A small stuffed toy.
Jiri Kmonicek from the Czech Republic took out a small stuffed moose from a plastic bag as his auction item, with an initial bid of P500. But a bidding war ensued between two members of the audience which pushed the final auction price to P7,500.
The 13th Mister International contest held a charity gift auction to raise funds for the Little Sisters of the Elderly in San Juan, and for various rehabilitation projects in Mindanao.
The event, held at Tribu Babaylan in Quezon City on Saturday night, had all the 39 delegates donating items from their native countries for the auction.
The second highest bid went to Mister Venezuela Francesco Piscitelli’s embellished hat, which is a part of his national costume. From an initial bid of P1,000, a bidding war pushed the price to P7,000.
Mister Indonesia Rezza Praditya’s Javanese wooden handicraft, and Mister Hong Kong Walkin Kwan’s table screen each had a final bid of P4,000.
Mark Kevin Baloaloa of the Philippines auctioned off two items, a bottle of concentrated guyabano juice and a pack of cocoa tablea, which were sold at P500.
One interesting item auctioned off was Mister Australia Harrison Luna’s own swim trunks that he had used for swimming competitions. It fetched P500. He was also proclaimed Mister Walker by the underwear sponsor later in the program.
Thailand’s Nick Nolte received the Mister BadLab title, while Piscitelli was recognized as Mister David’s Salon.
The 13th Mister International finals will be staged at One Esplanade in Pasay City on Feb. 24. This is the second time that the Philippines is hosting the global tilt. It was first staged here in 2015.
Korea’s Lee Seung Hwan, 2017 Mister International, will relinquish his title.
The Philippines has, so far, one winner in the contest’s 13-year history — police officer Neil Perez who won in 2014. /atm
