SC junks appeal of Mutya pageant organizers on damages to beauty queen

The Supreme Court has denied with finality the appeal of the Mutya ng Pilipinas beauty pageant organizers to reverse the decisions of the Quezon City court, and subsequently the Appelate court that awarded damages to the dethroned 1997 beauty contest winner who was forced to resign due to false allegations of pregnancy at that time.

Named defendants in the civil case were Leandro Enriquez of the Miss Asia Pacific Quest Inc. (MAPQI) and Carousel Productions represented by Ramon Monzon and Lorraine Schuck.

Atty. Nelson Borja, lead counsel for plaintiff Esabela Cabrera, hailed the High Court’s decision citing the damages initially meted by the lower courts were even raised to R2.5 million saying his client was put to shame by the pregnancy controversy that led to her resignation

Eventually, Sheryl Moraga, Mutya ng Pilipinas first runner-up took Cabrera’s spot and represented the country in the Miss Asia Pacific Quest pageant held in the Philippines on the same year.

“The Mutya ng Pilipinas ‘97 Esabela Cabrera was divested of her crown for alleged pregnancy and resignation. We filed a damage suit against the organizers with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court and won. We also won at the Appellate Court which was upheld by the Supreme Court,’’ Borja said.

In the complaint, Cabrera was stripped of her crown and was also divested of prizes worth R400,000; and special prizes of Miss Avon and Miss LUX amounting to R10,000 each. The said prizes were given to Moraga.

Borja said Cabrera was also denied the chance to represent the country in the 1997 Miss Asia Pacific Quest pageant.

Citing the merits of the case, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court ruled in favor of Cabrera and the defendants were ordered to pay R400,000 corresponding to the total prize of the plaintiff as the 1997 Mutya ng Pilipinas winner; R500,000 in moral damages, R100,000 in exemplary damages, and R100,000 attorney’s fees.

“After undergoing the rigors of the pageant and had proven herself to be the best among all the deserving candidates of the beauty pageant, she had suffered the shame, humiliation and insult of being dethroned of her well-won crown with sordid imputation of an acceptable state of pregnancy and alleged abortion: plaintiff lost the pride, privilege and opportunity to represent the country in an international beauty contest, lost her opportunity to join the movie, and television industries, to be endorser of popular brands and products in advertising industry and other well-deserved opportunities and rewards that would be ushered to the national beauty queen,’’ the trial court said.

It added the plaintiff who was then a minor “when she underwent all these pain and sufferings thus deserves to be awarded with moral damages while the concerted acts of the defendants were proven by the plaintiff to be done in wanton, fraudulent, and malevolent manner thus entitling the plaintiff to the prayer for exemplary damages’’.