
And from the lineup of thirty (30) beautiful candidates, I have trimmed them down to just twelve (12) contenders who – in my opinion – have the best chances of nailing victories, two (2) runners-up included.
Here now are my picks for the Top 12 (in the order of their assigned numbers):
Truth be told, I can come up with three more additions to the above ladies to complete a Top 15 because this is a relatively strong batch to begin with. But the dozen I cited are the ones who have performed more consistently all throughout the pre-pageant activities. From where I stand, that is.
Now cutting the twelve down to just five is tricky because I want to pick the best from among the eight (8) coming from the overseas communities first. So if there will be a Special Title of Mutya Overseas Communities, I would hand it first to either Abagail Grigsby of Melbourne or Suzanne Perez of California.
With that matter finished, I can now move ahead with my personal Top 5:
The way I see it, Savannah Mari Gankiewicz of Hawaii and Jannie Loudette Alipo-on of Navotas City will face-off for the Top 2 titles. Actually, either one of them will do well in Miss Asia-Pacific International and Miss Tourism International. But at this point, I can see the latter as being the best fit for the Kuala Lumpur-based pageant. So that makes the Hawaiian lass as potential host delegate for MAPI2017 happening in our shores this coming October.
The Top Model title is and should obviously be given to a tall candidate. I can see 5’9″ Ilene Astrid de Vera of Cebu getting the nod. Actually, whoever wins this honor will have the luxury of time to prepare for the contest in Egypt next year. And the Cebuana should be able to transform herself more beautifully.
Cristelle Tolentino of Manila and Arianne Deseree Viardo of Pampanga complete my Top 5.
See you at Resorts World Manila tomorrow night for the culminating event of Mutya ng Pilipinas 2017!