Mr. Smiley and Sporty Girl
Two fresh faces from Cebu are hitting the national pageantry stage in Mr. and Ms. Hannah’s World Tourism Philippines’ sixth staging. Four Cebuanos have made it to the official 40 candidates, and two of them are our freshest yet.
Both in their teens, Kyle Dwight Sabinay and Kylah Kristianne Yve Sanchez are two of Cebu’s bets to the Mr. and Ms. Hannah’s World Tourism competition. Announced January this year, the pageant is presented by Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center.
After an extensive go-see that scoured the archipelago from Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Baguio, Laoag, Palawan, Tuguegarao, Manila, Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan De Oro, and Zamboanga City, 20 males and 20 females were chosen to compete.
The grand winners will have the honor of becoming the resort’s spokespersons in promoting various advocacies. The resort hopes to advance its role in addressing ecotourism concerns and gears its ambassadors to become catalysts for community development. Among tougher big gamers, Kyle and Kylah are relatively new kids on the block.
Although playing with the top guns, that doesn’t mean Kyle and Kylah will merely bite their competitors’ dust.
Mr. Smiley
Kyle, an incoming Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences student, was christened by one of the pageant organizers and pageant blogger Norman Tinio as “Mr. Smiley.” That shouldn’t be a mystery, seeing as Kyle’s easy smile and boyish charm landed him a spot in ABS-CBN’s reality singing competition show “Pinoy Boyband Superstar” in 2016.
The Talisay City native had auditioned alongside his older brother Kiert Aivan for the show. Unfortunately his brother didn’t make it past the Judges’ Audition, while Kyle moved on into the roster of the final 40 contestants.
Although Kyle, 19, was by his lonesome throughout the Boyband competition and did not make it to the Top 20 for the Middle Rounds, he persevered and promised to do his best. The five-foot-nine cutie is revisiting this promise in his Mr. Hannah’s quest.
“I’m a very approachable person. You can also call me as the guy who can cheer up anyone who’s feeling down. But more than just what I can offer on the outside, I can be a fierce challenger to every challenge coming my way and an optimistic dream chaser who wants to turn my goals into reality,” Kyle elaborates in Tinio’s post.
Tinio adds that the future is bright for the basketball, billiards, bowling, and travelling enthusiast. Taking note of his “youthful charm and lifting teen spirit that can drive away the blues,” Tinio quips that Kyle projects good vibes and had made converts of the guests and attendees during the Grand National Callbacks. Indeed, Kyle’s “trademark magnetic smile” made a wonderful first impression.
Packing a handful of titles under his belt, Kyle won three pageants in 2015 namely: Hiyas ng Carcar, Hari ng C. Padilla, and Hari ng Duljo. He was also hailed Hari ng Lalin Festival Asturias in 2016, and was a top 20 finisher in Mr. City Mall 2016.
But Kyle isn’t in it to smile at the judges all day. Knowing his strengths and playing by them, Kyle joined Mr. Hannah’s to become a good example to his peers and seniors.
“I joined Mr. Hannah’s to serve as an inspiration to everyone not just the youth,” Kyle says, adding that he also wants to present pageants as “not just merely staging our beauty and grace” but as an avenue that helps “encourage unity among us.”
“Our nature has to be saved and protected. Our selfishness has brought this precious gift to danger. It is our responsibility to nurture and bring it back to life,” he says.
Sporty Girl
Dubbed by Tinio “Sporty Girl,” Kylah Kristianne Yve Sanchez is an 18-year-old Liloan native who wowed onlookers at the Grand National Callbacks with her sharp features, or as the blogger puts it, “exotic beauty and refreshing appeal.”
The Grade 12 General Academic Strand student from the University of Cebu earned unanimous “yes” votes during the screening. Unbeknownst to the adoring crowd, Kylah flew to Manila and joined the competition with a point to prove. An athlete through and through, Kylah is best described as nothing short of competitive.
“I am not your typical beauty queen aspirant. In all the contests I have joined, I got my fair share of wins and losses. But the failures didn’t stop me from aiming for my dreams,” the singer and contemporary dancer says in Tinio’s post.
The varsity player for the UC volleyball team explains that her background as a hardworking athlete toughened her up.
“I was trained to face challenges to help mold myself into a better challenger. Truthfully, I never stop learning from all of my life experiences. I have become someone who is unstoppable because of the downfalls
that I had experienced. At the age of 18, I know that I still have a lot to prove. And that is one of the reasons why I joined this national competition,” the middle blocker and skim board fanatic asserts.
Although one of the youngest, Kylah has also bagged crowns of her own. In 2017, she was hailed Miss Yati Liloan, Miss Tabogon Ecotourism, Miss Kalunasan, Miss Gaisano Grand and Miss UC Basic Education. This year, she won Miss Grand Chinatown, and Mandaue’s Panagtagbo Festival Queen. She also placed second runner-up in Binibining Panabo 2018. Kylah was likewise the municipality of Tabogon’s bet in the first ever Binibining Cebu staging, and was Miss Surfing Lanuza-Surigao.
Aside from proving that she can fare well in the big game, Kylah has not lost sight of the responsibilities brought by the Miss Hannah’s crown.
“I joined because I want to motivate and inspire Filipinos and tell them that it doesn’t matter what kind of background, education, or scars they have. They should always be unapologetic in recognizing themselves as massive forces in our society, to come forward and take in those leadership roles,” Kylah quips.
“Most importantly, to revive the loss of our environment that was being neglected for so long because of being egocentric just to be globally competitive, setting aside God’s gift— the nature. We must always remember to treat the Earth with respect, as we are its inhabitants,” she adds.
Apart from Kyle and Kylah, other Cebu bets include 23-year-old registered pharmacist Juvel Ducay of Bantayan Island who finished at the Top 6 in last year’s Miss Mandaue pageant. The 5’4” self-confessed island girl and BS Pharmacy graduate from the University of San Carlos also placed first runner-up in the same pageant’s Media’s Choice Award and had won Miss Mandaue’s Fitness Challenge.
Tacloban native Vann Ramos is Cebu’s other male aspirant and is no stranger to pageantry. The 23-yearold was Cebu’s bet in 2017’s Misters of Filipinas competition. The model also joined the first edition of Hari sa Sugbo in February this year where he was given the Best Hari Costume and Best Bench Body awards.
Mr. and Miss Hannah’s World Tourism promises its grandest staging yet with three pairs of titles at stake. Starting this year, six finalists will take home their own crowns and will be hailed Mr. and Miss Hannah’s World Tourism Philippines 2018, Mr. and Miss Hannah’s Ecotourism Philippines 2018, as well as Mr. and Miss Hannah’s Tourism Ambassador Philippines 2018.
The top two winners for both categories will be granted cash prizes of P100,000 each, while the two sets of runners-up will getting P50,000 each and P25,000 each respectively.
An interesting catch: the winners will also be assured slots in several prestigious national pageants such as Mutya ng Pilipinas, Miss Global and Miss Earth Philippines, and Gentlemen of the Philippines with Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center as a major sponsor.
Dubbed as “The Crown Jewel of the North” with its string of national and international recognitions, the resort also plans to launch an international pageant by September. Talk about how Hannah’s World Tourism is eyed to open in the Philippines has surfaced, saying that it offers to foster tourism education and training. It also wishes to create awareness and solicit the engagement of the youth as an avenue to promote tourism, becoming an instrument in achieving sustainable development goals to reduce poverty, all the while fostering sustainable development around the world.
The preliminary competition starts on May 5 featuring Festival Costumes, Swimwear, and Formal Wear competitions at Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, while the grand finals and coronation night is on May 12 at the New Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.