A former merchant mariner called out Miss Philippines Earth after he saw one of the contestants wearing very revealing swimwear during the competition.
The said contestant, Kerri Reilly who’s representing her province Pangasinan during the competition captured the attention of the netizens after she wore a swimsuit showing her groin area.
Reilly’s outfit received both positive and negative comments from the netizens who praised her for being confident while others criticized her for being too revealing.
Lacruiser Relativo, one of the most popular Filipino seaman on social media also went viral because of his open letter to Miss Philippines Earth, asking the people behind the competition why they allow Reilly to wear the said outfit.
According to him, the revealing outfit of Reilly was one of the reasons why beauty pageants were being tainted.
“This is one of the reasons why beauty pageants are often criticized for their emphasis on physical appearance and the objectification of our women. I feel that the organization crossed the line by advocating such beauty standards.” Lacruiser said.
“No wonder there has been a growing movement to shift the focus of beauty pageants away from physical appearance and towards other qualities that are more empowering and inclusive,” he added.
He suggested that beauty pageants should stop promoting revealing outfits and should focus on the “inner beauty, intelligence, and talent” of contestants.
“You have become hyper-focused on physical appearance by displaying too much skin to the verge of nudity. Beauty pageants, as part of our culture and tradition, has to strike a balance between celebrating physical beauty and promoting values. Not the other way around,” he also said.
As of writing, Miss Philippines Earth has yet to release a statement to the criticisms they received from the writer.