Cory Quirino is new president of Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant

MANILA, Philippines – Wellness advocate and TV personality Cory Quirino is the new president of the Mutya ng Pilipinas beauty pageant.

Speaking to TV 5’s MJ Marfori during a Health and Wellness event on Thursday, March 7, Quirino said that she decided to jump back into the world of pageantry, having handled Miss World Philippines from 2011 to 2016.

Quirino will take over Mutya ng Pilipinas following the resignation of Hemily Escudero-Tamayo last January.

“I’ve already done an international pageant. Been there, done that,” she said.

Quirino said that has yet to fulfill her dream of searching for the most beautiful women in the country, especially in the provinces. “I want to discover her… kami ang pupunta sa kanila.” (We’ll go to them.)

According to Quirino, she has been approached many times by the Mutya ng Pilipinas and Miss Asia Pacific International Organization to take. At that time she said, she wanted to rest after passing the Miss World Philippines national director position to Arnold Vegafria.

“Ang kagandahan ng Mutya, iba po yung konsepto namin. Hindi lamang kami naghahanap ng beauty queen. So abangan ang presscon,” she said.

(What’s beautiful with Mutya is that we have a different concept. We’re not just looking for a beauty queen. So watch out for the presscon.)

She added that there’s no bad blood between her and the past leaders of the organization. She also said that she has bumped into Arnold and that he’s happy running the Miss World Philippines franchise.

Mutya ng Pilipinas celebrated it 50th year in 2018. It is one of the oldest Philippine pageants.

The competition is reponsible for sending representatives to the Miss Asia Pacific International, Miss Tourism International, Miss Global Beauty Queen, and Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International. –Rappler.com