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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The annual Miss Dinagyang beauty pageant will have an official crown.
In preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Dinagyang Festival on January 2018, Miss Dinagyang executive director Alex Soncio tapped homegrown jeweler Sarabia Jewelry to design the official crown.
The Miss Dinagyang beauty pageant is one of the most anticipated events of the annual festival. The winner becomes the city’s ambassador of goodwill.
Regine Sarabia Espinosa, lead designer of the 70-year-old Sarabia Jewelry that is also the official jeweler of the beauty pageant, created two crown designs.
“The crown is something we can call our very own. Our own local artist and brand are behind it,” said Soncio.
Ilonggos are urged to vote via Facebook which of the two designs would become the official Miss Dinagyang crown.
“It was a great task designing something uniquely Ilonggo,” said Espinosa.
To vote for the official crown, visit the Sarabia Jewelry Facebook page.
Espinosa said the designs were “very Ilonggo.” One design was inspired by the baybay (sea) surrounding Iloilo while the other took inspiration from the bulakakaw (shooting star).
A special gemstone in the middle of the crown has been carved to the shape of the “Lin-ay sang Iloilo” statue atop the Iloilo City Hall.
Voting for the crown was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. yesterday.
A post at Sarabia Jewelry’s Facebook page read yesterday: “2 designs will be uploaded 6PM tonight…the one with the most number of likes in 10 days will be the official crown of the pageant for the next couple of years.”
Voting ends on Aug. 31, 2017.
The winning design will be announced on Sept. 1, 2017 and will be launched officially in October.
In designing the crown, Espinosa said she consulted, among others, Miss Dinagyang 2016 Vanessa Caro on how beauty pageant winners wear their crowns.
Caro is also the brand ambassador of Sarabia Jewelry.
“I was much encouraged and very well challenged to produce the best designs for the Miss Dinagyang crown,” said Espinosa.
Soncio said the official crown is a “gift” of Sarabia Jewelry to the city government and Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation, Inc. but it will be with Sarabia Jewelry for safekeeping.
Gina Sarabia-Espinosa, mother of Regine Sarabia Espinosa and wife of Vice Mayor Jose Espinosa III, however, said the crown may also be displayed at the Iloilo City Hall Museum so the public can view it anytime./PN
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