Despite the earthquake that shook this province last Sept. 30, the Miss Asia Pacific International 2025 pageant will still hold its coronation night at the Cebu Coliseum on Wednesday evening, Oct. 8.
Forty-three ladies from different countries and territories around the world are competing in this year’s pageant. The competition has expanded beyond the Asia-Pacific region in the early 2000s.
Entrance to the Cebu Coliseum will be free for lucky patrons who registered online. The gates will open at 6 P.M., and the show is expected to start at 7 P.M.
The ceremonies will be streamed live on the Miss Asia Pacific International pageant’s official Facebook page, available for viewing around the world.
Lawyer and beauty queen Eva Patalinjug-Lim, the pageant’s president, told Inquirer Entertainment in an earlier interview that the organization offered the show for free to the public because ‘we want to show up for Cebu.’
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake jolted Cebu on the ladies’ first day in the province, halting the Benefit Gala Night. The tremor claimed dozens of lives and left a trail of destruction, mostly in the northern part of the island.
The pageant realigned its activities to stand in solidarity with those affected by the earthquake, and the delegates joined relief missions.
Also because of the calamity, the grand preliminary competition show was canceled, and the organizers mounted a scaled-down, closed-door program, where the ladies competed in swimsuit and gown.
The finale show will still have the requisite swimsuit and evening gown competitions, and will include the grueling and crucial final question round.
One winner will be proclaimed at the end of the ceremony, to succeed outgoing queen Janelis Leyba. However, she will not be able to personally pass her crown to the new titleholder.
During the ‘National Directors’ Night’ on Monday evening, Oct. 6, it was disclosed that the 21-year-old Dominican-American teacher immediately left for the United States the day after the Sept. 30 earthquake because of the trauma she experienced.
She was still living in the Dominican Republic as a child when she experienced a devastating earthquake that traced its epicenter in Haiti.
The organizers said they respect Leyba’s decision, and acknowledge what she had gone through. Belgian beauty Selena Ali, second runner-up in last year’s contest, had stayed on and joined the ladies in all the activities.
The 43 delegates, meanwhile, are all safe. Belgium’s Jana Janssens sustained an injury during the quake, but had already walked in her heels again during Monday’s preliminary competition.
Zambaleña beauty Anita Rose Gomez is representing the Philippines in this year’s competition, and is hoping to post the country’s sixth victory in the pageant