THE Mutya ng Dabaw 2024 has no age limit and no height or weight requirement, a representative from the City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) revealed.
Margaret Lopez, representative of the CTOO Promotions Unit, said during the ISpeak media forum on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at the PSSO Building, Daang Patnubay, SIR, Davao City, that since 2022 the local pageant has amended several restrictions for its participants.
“Wala nay height requirement and wala nay age limit so actually we are really proud to say nga naay mama nga niapil na pud karon sa Mutya ng Dabaw (We no longer have any height requirement and we don’t have age limit so actually we are really proud to say that there is a mother who joined this year’s Mutya ng Dabaw),” she said.
She added that the amended rules for Mutya ng Dabaw were the clamor of the handlers because they could not let those who were willing to join in the Mutya who lacked the height requirement. Thus the Executive Committee (execom) decided to remove the height qualification.
“Wala na gani pud siyay weight requirement or anything basta Dabawenya, maka-present ka ug anything kanang proof ug barangay certificate nga you are a resident of Davao City so pwede ka mag-Mutya ng Dabaw (We also no longer have a weight requirement or anything as long as you are a Dabawenyo, so long as they can present anything as proof such as a barangay certificate that you are a resident of Davao City),” she said.
However, some of the netizens commented on their Facebook posts that the competition is unfair since married women will be competing with younger women. But Lopez emphasized that the execom’s main focus is to “redefine a Dabawenyo woman, not by the standards but as a Dabawenya as it is.”
Some of the candidates of the pageant are solo parents and happily married mothers. With this, Lopez emphasized that the women of Davao City are more represented compared to the previous pageants.
“Ang amoang pinaka-focus gyud sa Mutya ng Dabaw is actually redefining a Dabawenya woman dili lang siya by standards, Dabawenya as it is. Naa gyud Dabawenya women nga single parent, mama, plus size, or under or the common stereotypical nga dili kaabot sa height requirement, naa gyu’y mga ing-ana (Our main focus in Mutya ng Dabaw is actually redefining a Dabawenya woman not only by standards, Dabawenya as it is, because there are Dabawenya women that are single parents, mothers, plus size, or under the common stereotypical that cannot reach the height requirement, just like that),” she said.
She also addressed concerns over transwomen joining the contest, saying that it is written specifically that the pageant is for biological women, since there is also a pageant in the city for transwomen, which is the “Reyna Dabawenya.”
The 30 aspirants of the Mutya ng Dabaw were presented to the media recently. RGP
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