Mutya ng Pilipinas (Muse of the Philippines) has always played third fiddle to the two bigger beauty contests in the Philippine pageant scene – the Binibining Pilipinas and Miss Philippines-Earth. Blame it on reorganization or the lack of prestigious international competitions to send its winners to, it almost always is in survival status for the past number of years. However, there is a marked resurgence of interest in the contest this year. Aside from a relaxed policy regarding ‘half-breeds’ or contestants representing Filipino communities abroad, many local girls actually enlisted – forming the list of 34 official candidates which is quite a jump from the usual two dozen participants. And I must add that there are more than a handful of gorgeous competitors this year.

Just to give you a sample, here are my current Top 7 favorites to figure out on top…

Candidate No. 5 - Ma. Katrina Lopez

Candidate No. 14 - Agnes Santiago

Candidate No. 28 - Mary Lorraine de Guzman

Candidate No. 26 - Jacqueline Schubert

Candidate No. 8 - Jennielyn Natividad

Candidate No. 22 - Rene McHugh

Candidate No. 34 - Nadine Holversen

Honestly, there are still a lot of beautiful girls among the remaining 27 contestants which only goes to show how strongly competitive this year’s batch is. By the way, the host for this year’s finals and pre-pageant activities is the province of Aurora (last year’s was Palawan) and I’m pretty sure they will make a wonderful job of hosting the event.

If you’re interested, there will be an online poll from August 1-8 to select a winner for OPMB People’s Choice Award which will be officially handed out during the coronation night on August 9. You can check out the headshots, swimsuit takes and Filipina terno pictures using this link. Go ahead! Support your candidate!

Good luck to all contestants! May the best girls win!

images courtesy of Rogue Studio’s G. Aplal via OPMB Worldwide Forums.