Cebuana beauty shines above all

Saturday, September 02, 2017 By CHELZEE G. SALERA (SunStar Foto/Allan Defensor)

AS Cebu’s very own Miss Cebu pageant brought down its curtains, the birth of a grander celebration of beauty and brains is here and aims to promote not only the beauty of today’s modern Cebuana but also the heritage, culture and commerce of Cebu’s towns and cities. “Actually when the city cancelled Miss Cebu, we thought it was a pity because it was something that was beautiful because it was uniting all of Cebu. But we decided to make it bigger by uniting all the towns and cities of the province and not just make it city-wide but also province-wide. In our batch, we have been doing a lot of fund raising projects and we thought that Binibining Cebu would be grander, bigger, and would enable us to carry through with our mission of charity; of helping others and at the same time promoting everything about Cebu,” said Kenneth Cobonpue, creative producer and member of Sacred Heart School for Boys, Batch 1985 Foundation Inc. Varying greatly from the usual fund-raising activities the organization has been conducting, the beauty pageant is a breath of fresh air for Cebu. But amid all the aesthetics, conducting the pageant is more than just about the looks. “Leading a pageant is not just about beauty, it’s more about service to the community and being a role model and making a difference. It’s being proud of our city. We are very proud not just of our city but of our entire province. It is this pride that encourages us to do Binibining Cebu. We want the world to know more of our 44 towns and nine cities of our beautiful province as represented by our 54 beautiful candidates. More importantly, we want Cebuanos to know more about our home’s unique heritage, products and attractions,” said Kenneth Lim, president of Binibining Sugbu Charity Foundation Inc. from Sacred Heart School for Boys, Batch 1985 Foundation Inc. Fueled with the mission to provide a platform of extraordinary Cebuanas to promote Cebu’s special cultural contributions to the world, Binibining Sugbu Charity Foundation Inc. handpicked 54 beautiful candidates representing the 44 towns and nine cities of Cebu. The winner will be given the opportunity to engage in various social, educational, cultural and humanitarian activities in Cebu and other parts of the Philippines through the foundation. Whoever will be crowned Binibining Cebu will be embodying the knowledge of the wonders and beauty of Cebu specifically the heritage, culture, and commerce of its 44 towns and nine cities. As an ambassadress, the winner will be promoting Cebu through engaging in various social, educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities in Cebu and other parts of the Philippines through the Binibining Sugbu Charity Foundation Inc. “The embodiment of the modern Cebuana has to be beautiful inside and out and she has to speak the Cebuano language,” said Cary Santiago, pageant chairperson of Binibining Cebu. To this, Cobonpue added: “Since it is a tourism pageant, it’s very important for the candidate to possess a good knowledge not only about the town or city that she represents but the entire province as well. We will make sure that throughout the whole pageant they are well informed and trained to really be an ambassadress for the entire Cebu.” As the pageant looks for a beautiful representative for Cebu, the organizers made it clear that the contestants are encouraged to speak Cebuano during the question and answer portion. Because of this, for judges who are not Cebuano or who cannot understand Bisaya, a translator will be available to translate the answers in English. The 54 candidates will be undergoing Personality Development Training and Catwalking on Sept. 3 and Public Speaking training with Toastmaster on Sept. 16 and Oct. 1. The first-ever Binibining Cebu Pageant and Coronation Night will be held on Oct. 28, 8 p.m. in the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/lifestyle/2017/09/02/cebuana-beauty-shines-above-all-561894