Before these beautiful Filipinas are formally presented to the Press at Hotel H2O, allow me to share their individual portraits for the competition so you can have an initial close-up look at their faces. This really appears to be a stronger batch compared to last year’s.

Here now are the thirty (30) Official Candidates of Mutya ng Pilipinas 2014 (for each of the photo grids below, the first three names correspond to the top row and the next three names to the bottom row on a left-to-right order):

Mutya ng Lapu-Lapu City Anna Margarette Bascon
Mutya ng Tagbilaran City Dorina Losenada Doerr
Mutya ng Scandinavia Britt Rekkedal
Mutya ng Nueva Ecija Jackielyn Dulay
Mutya ng Daanbantayan Aivy Mae Roselle Castro
Mutya ng Bulacan Nickah Dalisay dela Cruz

Mutya ng Zambales Alexandra Faith Garcia
Mutya ng Capiz Renalyn Arinque
Mutya ng Olongapo City Cristine Racel
Mutya ng Zamboanga City Kellie Dione Camoro
Mutya ng Canada Beatrice Yenko Andrada
Mutya ng Central Luzon Shanice Aquino

Mutya ng Murcia (Negros Occ.) Annalita Vizcarra
Mutya ng Arizona USA Mary Ryelle Gosiengfiao Espiritu
Mutya ng Germany Deborah Namaug Humphner
Mutya ng Toronto Christina De Vries
Mutya ng Cagayan de Oro City Maria Leslie Angelina Ghan
Mutya ng Tarlac Cheryl Ayson Chen

Mutya ng Caloocan City Yesley Cabanos
Mutya ng Bohol Candie Cumayas
Mutya ng Australia Kim Fyfe
Mutya ng Cebu City Eva Psychee Patalinjug
Mutya ng Aklan Rosalie Castaneda Arcenio
Mutya ng Iloilo City Froilene Catong Villanueva

Mutya ng Milan Patrizia Lucia Bosco
Mutya ng Cordilleras Glennifer Perido
Mutya ng Mabalacat City Angela dela Raya Aninang
Mutya ng Davao City Jovilyn Cueva Gavan
Mutya ng Melbourne, Australia Pauline Edralin
Mutya ng Talisay, Cebu Aiko Rachelle Sanchez Caraan

My Early Picks:

And just to spice things up, I am posting my five (5) early favorites for the crown.

If we are to go by beauty of face alone, Mutya ng Milan Patrizia Lucia Bosco wins hands down. In person, she is miles-ahead more gorgeous than the photo above and below. But if we include to the equation their previous pageant experiences, camp training and over-all chances of getting a clear shot in winning the title come August 8, I would certainly add Mutya ng Cordilleras Glennifer Perido, Mutya ng Olongapo City Cristine Racel, Mutya ng Tagbilaran City Dorina Losenada Doerr and Mutya ng Tarlac Cheryl Ayson Chen as strong contenders.

My early picks for the crown

Potential spoilers could be Mutya ng Nueva Ecija Jackielyn Dulay, Mutya ng Iloilo City Froilene Villanueva, Mutya ng Scandinavia Britt Rekkedal and Mutya ng Canada Beatrice Andrada.

Let’s see who among them will really face up to the demands of the pageant and sustain the momentum all the way to the end. 😉

All images above are courtesy of Lito Sy Photography.