Padayon, Miss UP Cebu

For five years, since 2008, Miss UP Cebu has been an avenue for the University of the Philippines Cebu’s Mass Communication students to apply the expertise they learned from their subjects. Next to that, it has served as an opportunity for interested female students who showcase their talents and brains.

Miss UP Cebu is an anticipated annual event, which has always been a success. Yet this year, with the Arts and Humanities Cluster’s (AHC) hesitation to approve and propose the event, there is much speculation on the subject.

“Definitely continue Miss UP Cebu” said Annie Fe Perez, over-all director of the previous production.

According to the complainants, Miss UP Cebu has no cultural and artistic value, plus, it is no different from other university pageants—that it’s still a beauty pageant, displaying women. This evaluation was based on the event’s results for the past few years.

“It depends on the proposal. If it’s good and will be approved by the AHC faculty, then Miss UP Cebu can continue,” said Prof. Belinda Espiritu, the Mass Communication program coordinator.

             The go signal will only be given once the production team will submit a proposal as to how the next Miss UP Cebu will justify its uniqueness. Following the requirement, the third year Mass Communication students readily accepted the challenge of making the pageant distinctive, and drafted a proposal to be approved by the faculty of the cluster.

The proposal contains a vision and mission with the revised guidelines and qualifications according to the points pointed out in the complaints.

             The objections were valid. They are worth correcting. 

            In the drafted Miss UP Cebu 2014 proposal, all the concerns raised by the cluster from the previous productions were addressed. To incorporate the cultural value, the candidates will be immersed in cultural workshops such as dances and songs. Also, their photo shoot will take place in the historical sites around Cebu. Another concern is the absence of artistic value in the pageant. Answering this, interested UPians will be encouraged to design the long gowns of the candidates―this way, we can open opportunities to our UP Cebu artists.

            Being the only UP Cebu pageant, Miss UP Cebu provides an avenue for the production to hone the skills they learned inside the classroom and apply it in a way that the entire university benefits. In fact, unlike any other university pageants, the students alone work hand in hand to organize the event. There are no professors involved, no administration, even the funds are raised by the students. We believe this is already an edge. We also have to take note that our candidates are not only judged according to beauty and talent, but as well as their willingness to immerse themselves into charitable activities and of course, their ability to come up with a proposal which could be beneficial to the society in general. 

            For five years, Miss UP Cebu has flourished. Now that the pageant is to be re-conceptualized, we hope to continue to hone our skills, discover our best, and help out our community through a clean and modest competition.