Binibining Pilipinas logo and Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez. Image: Facebook/Binibining Pilipinas, Instagram/@beatriceluigigmz
Binibining Pilipinas has issued an apology after it drew criticism for supposedly being homophobic and throwing “shade” at the newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez.
Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) drew flak after it showed a photo of Miss International Philippines Hannah Arnold along with the description “natural woman” in a now-deleted Facebook post last Oct. 1.
Pageant fans described the remark as “outdated” and “homophobic,” while others also speculate that Binibining Pilipinas was “shading” Gomez, who is an out lesbian woman advocating LGBTQ rights.
Binibining Pilipinas apologized for the incident and claimed the deleted post bore no malice, as seen in a statement on its Facebook page yesterday, Oct. 2.
“Binibining Pilipinas would like to apologize for the recent caption posted on our Facebook page. There was no intention to throw malice at any individual,” it stated. “But we understand the impression created by the said caption given its timing.”
The pageant organization maintained that it continues to celebrate women of all backgrounds and vowed it will be more mindful online.
It also pleaded the public to spare the Binibining Pilipinas queens from negative statements as they were not involved in creating the post.
The BPCI chose the Philippines’ representative in the global Miss Universe pageant for over 50 years, until it parted ways with the Miss Universe Organization in December 2019. A separate local competition, Miss Universe Philippines, has since been established for choosing a representative to the international pageant, led by former Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2011 Shamcey Supsup.
Miss Universe Philippines held its coronation night in Bohol last Thursday, Sept. 30. It bestowed two additional titles, hailing Taguig’s Katrina Dimaranan as Miss Universe Philippines Tourism and Cavite’s Victoria Vincent as Miss Universe Philippines Charity. The Miss Universe Philippines Tourism title holder will replace the Miss Universe Philippines winner should the latter be unable to compete in Miss Universe.
Pangasinan’s Maureen Wroblewitz was proclaimed first runner-up while Cebu province’s Steffi Rose Aberasturi was named second runner-up. JB
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