In fairness to Stellar Marianas, sponsors

In fairness to Stellar Marianas and its sponsors, I think the public should know the entire story about my letter to the organization. First of all, my position about the entire issue was not “foul” but “sweet and bitter,” as I stated in my original letter to the organization. Our family is very appreciative of Stellar Marianas and the sponsors for what they have done. Northwest, Triple J and the rest of the sponsors did a first-class job. The concerns I raised were the “support system” for Shequita while she was away, her functioning after her reign was officially over and how the government through MVA didn’t take full advantage of their investment in the overseas events that Shequita attended. In fairness to MVA, they were functioning without a managing director at that time and the position was only recently filled.

I realize that Stellar Marianas can only operate with the funds at their disposal but it wasn’t until Shequita went to L.A. that I realized how low they were on funds. The lack of funds also forced Stellar Marianas to send her off to Japan and China with only $300 for a month and part of that was for “fees.” The only additional money sent to her was the prize money she won that had been withheld. I thought she should have been able spend her own prize money at her own discretion on Saipan—not to supplement travel expenses. However, in our meeting it was obvious Stellar Marianas had no other option due to the lack of funding that was beyond their control.

Although much of the $10,000 I mentioned was spent on our travel to the Miss Universe pageant, my wife and I have been sending Shequita money during her attendance at both pageants to cover the cost for food, personal hygiene, communications, pageant incidentals, other necessities and shopping, so I hope the public can understand our frustrations. Stellar Marianas was also forced to change the dates of her reign because the Miss International Pageant changed the pageant date from September to October and November. This created a conflict with the sponsor of the car because the contract for the car could not be extended for business reasons. Because the car was taken while she was in China, I simply responded in my letter that Shequita “cannot and should not be expected to continue if she DID NOT have the same support system of car, gas, and money for incidental cost.” However, we are glad that we did reach and understanding so Shequita can continue because my wife and I want to be part of the solution and not the problem. My wife and I are glad that Stellar Marianas understands our concerns and that they are willing to cover any additional cost and help us with getting Shequita to all the functions.

As for the role of the government, it was my understanding that Shequita’s participation in the pageants was more than to promote the empowerment of women but to also promote the CNMI. Shequita has indeed promoted the empowerment of women; however, the support system for promoting the CNMI was non-existent in the pageant activities. As I stated in my letter, “the top contenders in the pageants had people grouped together in the audience waving flags and they had advertisements in the media and in the pageant programs,” which surely had some influence on the judges in a contest where beauty was almost equal.

If the government, which was a primary sponsor through MVA, is going to support the pageant as a promotional tool for tourism, then the support system for pageant participants and activities at the pageant need to be improved or we are just wasting our time and money hoping to get some exposure and benefits from the pageant. Our family had to fundraise on our own because we were the only ones going from the CNMI to support Shequita and help promote the CNMI. The only help to us was the purchase of our tickets to enter the pageant by the Lt. Governor and the donations of senators, congressmen, citizens and students. But we didn’t get any help with brochures, flags or anything that would help promote the CNMI and I asked everyone I came in contact with prior to leaving. The Miss Universe and Miss International pageants would have been ideal for the My Wave Club of MVA to fundraise and attend because they would have enjoyed themselves and the waving would have done some real good for the CNMI.

We could learn a lot from our [I]din ga’[/I] (our twin Puerto Rico) in the American political family, I wasn’t surprised they won. Governments sponsor many of the participants in the pageants and they put forth a serious effort to promote their participant and their islands or nation. For example, the Puerto Rican government has made pageants their business to invest in for returns from these pageants, which is one of the main reasons Puerto Rico is so well known throughout the world and why they have the most successful history of winning pageants, especially the Miss Universe pageant—four times. Puerto Rico and other governments purchase elaborate costumes for the international costume competition, they purchase advertisements in the newspapers and the programs, they purchase blocks of seats for their representatives to sit together and they provide flags and brochures to be passed out. These cheering groups also get the attention of the international media during the pre- and post-pageant events. Our family did only one international interview with the Ukrainian TV because the T-shirts we purchased with Shequita’s picture caught their attention. These pageants are BIG BUSINESS and we must be prepared to play in the big leagues if we truly want to benefit financially from the pageants—it is just that simple.

The Miss Marianas Universe Pageant is a great way to promote the CNMI and it can be much more advantageous than some of the junkets attended by MVA and government officials. Shequita enjoyed herself and it was a great experience for my daughter but costly for our family, which is why I said a “sweet and bitter” experience for my wife and I. But we chose to make the sacrifice for our daughter and we really can’t blame Stellar Marianas. But we hope Stellar Marianas and the people of the CNMI appreciate the many sacrifices made by Shequita, which included putting her personal life on hold and missing a full term of college to serve the Marianas.

I’m sorry about the article in the paper and any negative effects that it might have caused Stellar Marianas but I hope the sponsors and the general public can now understand our frustrations without putting the blame on Stellar Marianas or the sponsors because it’s not their fault. Stellar Marianas, a non-profit organization, needs more support and funding in a business where they are competing against other governments. I want to encourage potential participants to sign up, as this was a learning experience and I’m sure from our meeting with Stellar Marianas that they are intent on doing an even better job in future international pageant competitions. Our attitude towards the Miss Universe Pageant will surely determine our altitude in the international competitions.