Raising awareness to eliminate all types of discrimination was the main reason why Mary Vanessa Tan from Barangay Model joined the 2019 Binibining Sexsi pageant at Puerto Princesa City Baywalk on Saturday.
“All throughout my life’s journey as a plus size woman, I learned about respect and those people call us such as , , and I think those who are doing that is because they need to bully others just to make themselves appear better. And if ever I’ll be crowned as the next Binibining Sexsi, I know I can influence others to have respect for people regardless of their skin color, gender preference, their size because I do believe that everybody has the right to exist without change so its influencing others to have respect. Respect begets respect,” said Tan.
The said event was part of the celebration of 147th Founding anniversary of Puerto Princesa and also the highlight of 15th Balayong Festival.
The crowd welcomed the ten plus size lovely candidates with screaming and cheering as they ramped out the runway to showcase their unique beauties, talents, and intelligence.
The candidates confidently embraced their sexiness in the casual wear and swimsuit competition, showcased their different talents, gracefully walked with their long gowns and cleverly answered the question during the preliminary round’s question and answer portion.
It was not only a night of beauty, as the candidates were also asked to voice out their thoughts. After a tough selection by the judges based on their beauty, talents, and brain, the contestants were trimmed down to three.
The three lucky candidates who moved on to the next round were Maureen April Rae Mijares from Bgry. Tiniguiban; Rica Belleza from Brgy. Sta. Monica; and Mary Vanessa Tan from Bgry. Model.
Again, they faced another tough question on the next round, “If you will be crowned as Binibining Sexsi 2019, how would you use your title to promote a healthy lifestyle without discriminating the plus size community?”
Among the three candidates, Mary Vanessa Tan of Baranggay Model won the heart of judges as she nailed the question with her winning answer, “If I will be crowned as the next Binibining Sexsi, I will be promoting a healthy lifestyle without discriminating plus size women like me, simply by joining activities such as Zumba and other health-related activities because the reason why other women are heavy set is not just because of their lifestyle, sometimes it’s with the genes. I will be the one to join and then I will encourage other women to join with me like my advocacy to organized an association of plus size women and through that, we will be able to carry out programs and activities that are related to promoting a healthy lifestyle”. Tan also won the title of “Best in Long Gown” and she is also the “Darling of the Press” during the press conference.
“Sobrang saya ko di ko ma contain, isang factor dun ay ate ko ang reigning so yung pressure po talaga ay iba. Iba pala yung pressure kapag kapatid mo pero nag back-to-back kami kaya ang saya ko po, sobrang thankful sa pinagkaloob ng Diyos sa akin na panibagong achievement. Itutuloy namin ng aking kapatid yung aming plano originally to organize nga yung association ng mga plus size women since willing sumali ang mga kandidata, so sisimulan namin hopefully sana maging successful,” said Tan.
2018 Binibining Sexsi Mary Valerie Guzman, the sister of the newly crowned 2019 Binibining Sexsi Mary Vanessa Tan, was so overwhelmed and surprised that her sister won the crown.
“Super proud kasi kapatid ko, younger sister ko, so back-to-back win kami. Super saya dahil deserving s’yang manalo sa performance nya, mula sa production hanggang Q & A, umangat naman yung galing nya so super happy, unexpected itong pangyayaring ito,” she said.