Queenmaker Arnold Vegafria has acquired a handful of international pageant franchises throughout the years under his ALV Pageant Circle. A recent acquisition – Miss Asia Pacific International – was once just a dream for him, he said.
‘When I started in the business of pageantry, this is one of my bucket list to get this pageant, to be part of this pageant. Why? Because I believe this is one of the oldest pageants in the world,’ he said during the ‘National Directors’ Night’ hosted by the pageant organization at the Temple of Leah in Cebu City on Monday evening, Oct. 6.
Every year, the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant hosts the national directors who visit the Philippines for the pageant season. The recent gathering was scaled down in solidarity with those affected by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Sept. 30, said Eva Patalinjug-Lim, the pageant’s president.
Vegafria had just acquired the license for this year’s edition of the international pageant. Philippine bet Anita Rose Gomez was crowned at the recent Miss Grand International Philippines competition, one of his national searches.
‘I’m so happy to be part of this because this is an original from the Philippines, one of the biggest in the Philippines, of course I want to be a part of this,’ he confessed.
Among the international partners of his ALV Pageant Circle are Miss World, Miss Grand International, Reina Hispanoamericana, and Face of Beauty International.
Before he acquired the Miss Asia Pacific International license for the Philippines, it has been with the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant since the time of its inception in 1968. The national and global contests were established by the same personalities.
Last year, the franchise left the Mutya ng Pilipinas organization for the first time, and was acquired by Empire Philippines, organizer of the Miss Universe Philippines pageant.
The former owners of the Mutya ng Pilipinas and Miss Asia Pacific International pageants truned over ownership to the Tans of Cebu, but the family later divested from the national contest to concentrate on the global competition.
Vegafria thanked Miss Asia Pacific International Pres. Eva Patalinjug-Lim and officers Onin Mas and Vicky Bugayong for trusting him with the franchise.
He said it was when he chanced upon Mas in Taiwan for another international pageant where he signified his desire to acquire the Miss Asia Pacific International franchise.
‘I said, ‘if the franchise of the former owner expired, try my organization, and I will do my best to promote the [Miss Asia Pacific International] in the Philippines,’ Vegafria shared.
Since taking over the Miss World Philippines Organization in 2017, and establishing his own Miss Grand International Philippines search subsequently, Vegafria had produced Reina Hispanoamericana winners Teresita Ssen ‘Winwyn’ Marquez and Dia Mate, Miss Eco International titleholders Cynthia Thomalla and Kathleen Paton, inaugural Miss Multinational queen Sophia Senoron, current Face of Beauty International Jeanne Isabelle Bilasano, 2024 Universal Woman Maria Gigante, and reigning Miss Grand International Christine Juliane ‘CJ’ Opiaza.
Gomez hopes to join Marquez, Thomalla, Senoron, Gigante, and Bilasano as Vegafria’s first entrants to their respective pageants who succesfully clinched crowns.
The 2025 Miss Asia Pacific International coronation night will be held at the Cebu Coliseum on Oct. 8. Forty-three delegates from around the world are competing this year.