BEAUTY PAGEANT CONTROVERSY NMBPA sets the record straight

The truth is out.

Or at least according to the Northern Marianas Beauty Pageant Association which held a news conference yesterday to answer probing questions on the controversy surrounding this year’s local beauty queens.

The organization, which has hosted the local pageant for the last 25 years, admitted oversight on eligibility requirements, but assured the ongoing revamp on how it conducts the annual pulchritude contest will prevent such things from happening again.

While the decision not to hold a pageant next year was born out of the reorganization plan, NMBPA officials stressed it was not intended to compensate 1999 Miss NMI International Michelle Sablan, who would not be able to represent the island in Japan for being overage.

At 24 years old, Miss Sablan is not qualified to join the Miss International pageant in Tokyo in December as it rules stipulate that contestants must be between 17 to 23 years old.

Instead, 20-year old student Miyuki Hill, who emerged first runner-up during last February’s local pageant, will be sent there and vie for the title sought by other representatives worldwide.

But Miss Sablan, who NMBPA said will not be stripped of her local title, gets to represent the NMI in next year’s Miss Universe to be held in Cyprus in what the group claimed is “an effort to continue with the relationships” with its U.S.-based franchise owners.

Prior decision

According to Public Relations Officer Paula Bermudes, the decision to forego hosting the Miss NMI 2000 was reached even before the dilemma erupted towards the end of August.

“(It) was made prior to the knowledge of the oversight of Michelle’s age,” she explained. “There is really an urgent need for us to get everything together in order to function properly in the upcoming years.”

She said their legal counsels are currently reviewing all documents, contracts and activities as part of the reorganization which may be completed before the pageant in 2001.

On questions why it took NMBPA more than two months to publicly announce its decisions, the official attributed the delay partly to tight schedule of most board members whom she said are with the group on their personal time.

“With the announcements, you have to take into consideration all the aspects of all the people you are going to reach or touch with this kind of information,” she said.

During that time, Bermudes said documents were fine tuned “to make a better representation to the public and be able to be in a part where we are now to come out and explain to the CNMI why this organization they have supported for so long has started to make these decisions.”

Unfortunately, those two months sparked rumors and speculations damaging to the organization and to the reigning beauty titlists, although they were vehemently denied by NMBPA.

“We didn’t delay to stall if that’s what people are insinuating. It didn’t take two months to announce this because we were stalling. It took us two months to announce this because that’s the time that was required,” said Bermudes.

Not aware

Miss Sablan, who was caught in the crossfire, disclosed she was not aware of the age requirement for the Miss International pageant even when she signed up late last year to be one of the candidates for the 1999 local search.

“I was not aware of it before I signed the contestant’s contract with NMBPA. The only contract that was given was my responsibility if selected as a queen locally in how I reign and carry out my duties,” she said.

Miss NMI follows the bylaws of Miss Universe which provide that its delegates must be between 18 to 27 years old. “The contract I’ve signed is not between myself, NMBPA and international beauty contest,” quipped Miss Sablan.

The news of not being able to represent the island in Japan disappointed her. “I am Miss NMI International and definitely I would love to have gone to the Miss International, however my age and it’s beyond my control,” she said.

But she said she resented insinuations that she pushed her weight around to force NMBPA to send her to Miss Universe next year as a way to compensate her.

“I just want to make things clear to the public because I know some people are insinuating that I went to the board and said, ‘No, okay, compensate me and send me to the Miss Universe.’ I never did that,” she explained.

“When I found out about it, the board and I talked ‘Okay let’s find a solution to this problem. You guys make an offer to me.’ I will not suggest any kind of compensation. However, I did say I want to be compensated because of all the time and money I dedicated to the pageant. I think I deserve to go to either to any equal pageant. Not necessarily Miss Universe, I never asked for that.”

Board’s actions

Current Miss NMI Universe Cherlyn Cabrera said she was made aware of the situation and the decision by the board, adding that she also knew there won’t be any local pageant next year.

“So the options were brought up about different ways of compensating her and they did say that this was one of the ways and they asked me how I thought about that. I said ‘that was fine with me,'” she said.

Although NMBPA, as local franchise holders to these two global pageants, reserves the rights not to send any representatives to any of these, they said they wanted to maintain “goodwill, friendship, and to showcase the island’s warm hospitality.”

Bermudes said both Hill and Sablan are “very able and capable representatives” to both pageants, and assured the public NMBPA is taking its reorganization seriously.

“We’re taking a vacation again… so that this won’t happen again. We are taking the time and effort… to make sure that these issues are being addressed,” she added.

“I am very pleased,” said Miss Hill of the decision by the group. “This is something I am definitely looking forward too.”