Miss Earth
Gyles-Brown said she was “approached by a sponsor on many occasions who asked for sexual favors in exchange for the Crown.”
According to her, the incident happened at Manila Yacht Club on a sponsored evening meal. The same sponsor also “tried to find out what hotel and room” she was staying in. She then approached their Team Manager “to express their disgust only to be laughed at.”
She “felt traumatized by this experience and had many sleepless nights.”
“I approached Lorraine Schuck who … informed me that the sponsor would be removed from all contact with contestants but this did not happen. As other groups experienced the same issue. Myself and @missjaimeyvonne removed ourselves from this uncomfortable environment and sat on the bus away from further exploitation,” she added.
On the other hand, Miss Cuba Monica Aguilar refuted any sexual harassment allegations on her social media post and said she “felt safe the entire month under the care of her team managers.”
“I can confirm there was no sexual harassment happening in any shape or form. Yes, some of the sponsors did ask us if we wanted to extend our visas to go to Boracay after the pageant, but no one promised to get us fur- ther in the competition through ‘sexual favors’,” she said.
“In conclusion, sexual harassment was not present in any shape or form, and the team managers did an outstanding job at keeping us safe. The Miss Earth Organization, especially Peachy and Lorraine, have done everything in their power to keep us safe and I think the world, or the earth rather, needs to know what really went on,” she added.
Shuck told The STAR the issue was immediately and properly addressed, and was “puzzled” why the candidates said the organization did not take action when the Miss Earth organization immediately “banned the sponsor from the event.”
“The sponsor was banned from the event on Oct. 14, right after that the candidate reported such incident. I told Cruz not to attend any further events for the pageant or even go near the candidates,” she said.
“This is the first time that such complaint surfaced. We will be more careful who we are dealing with and be stricter. I told the candidates not to be afraid to come out or report any incidents that would make them uncomfortable. We fully support the Miss Earth delegates. If there’s any complaint, we will help them,” she added.
The STAR tried to reach Cruz for comment but did not get response as of press time.