Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Parawakan Queen, the start and its return

PALAWANDERER.COM

Parawakan Queen, the start and its return

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It was the year 2006, Puerto Princesa is plagued by different bikini pageants happening from different bars to major hotel brand of the province, most of this are for females and occasionally there were male counterparts, some of them is the Bikini Rave of Asturias Hotel, Westkini of the West Coast place of the city for Pista ng Karagatan, Photographic Model Search by Ensomo Studio and many others.

Parawakan costume parade in 2007

Parawakan Queen started from a regular hang out of busiest gay enthusiast of the city by that time, yours truly the Palawanderer, Events Solutions & Possibilities Head Wawa Sydney Loyola, Hangar Zone manager Ben Rojo and Celsius Bar owner Arnold Torrecer, to come up a show featuring young gays of Palawan, to match the Bikini Competition fever.

Parawakan is a local rooster intended for derby, as per sabungeros they tagged this specie as the Gay version among all rooster, due to its different body form like a regular hen, making it the sexy one among all.  Plus, the historical facts that Magellan chronicler Antonio Pigafetta, on one of his notes say, while passing Palawan islands they saw some local natives playing with their rooster, and it was the first account in the Philippines about Cockfighting.

The very first batch of Parawakan Queen hopefuls in 2006.

Moving forward, Parawakan Queen was on the road, an all-bikini contest intended for young gays of the province, by that time trans beauty who undergo surgical operation is not allowed to join, its because we want to highlight those feminine looking gays, and trans is not a word by then.

The competition started with Parawakan Costumes, a fabulous attire all made up of chicken feathers, followed by lingerie wear where the candidates show some kinky but sweet side of their personality, and then there is the sabong portion, the alter ego of talent portion, the candidates in this part is made to dance ala showdown versus other candidates.

The team behind the first Parawakan Queen in 2006, and its judges and the Queens.

The swimsuit portion comes next in just one piece followed by a Hypothetical Question and answer portion, the scoring for that is very low due to the fact that Parawakan aims to find a Queen who have that beautiful face and body, Top 3 is the last segment where the ladies will discuss their “pananaw sa buhay”.

The First Parawakan Queen Renevee Lopez in the middle.

The first Parawakan Queen was held at the defunct Al Fresco along Rizal Avenue, Renevee Lopez was the first winner from 10 candidates, held February 18, 2006, while Ramona Gonzaga succeeds in Parawakan Queen 2007 held in Puerto Enchanted Garden on Oct 4, 2007, the supposed to be theme park venue and its carousel serve as the backdraft of the show. The said venue is now an empty lot in front of SM City Puerto Princesa along Malvar st who was then called Kalero.

The 2nd Parawakan Queen of 2008, Ramona Gonzaga (center)
Parawakan royalties of 2008

Come 2008, the supposed to be last was held at Central Bar and Grill who was then called as Christine, a bar open nightly in Junction 1, this time there are 15 hopefuls who join the contest, Jeff Mystica is the winner that year.

Parawakan Queen 2008 Jeff Mystica

It was the last time they heard Parawakan Queen, the very reason is most of the people behind it leave Palawan and start their career in Manila and in abroad.

Fast forward to 2023, with Runway Plaza’s presence as the platforms for LGBTQi in the City thru Arvie Flores, Parawakan Queen returns with the same old segments and same criteria, this time we open it to trans beauty who can carry the torch of promoting good health, as they say being sexy is being healthy.

2023 candidates are Rocky Darol Cueva, Nathalie Delos Santos, Mj Balcueba Malipot, Terry Ignacio Dumagan, Iza Garcia Aton, Rafiya Porquez, Ai ai Ballesta, Kim Agustin, Chin chin Majestad and Patty Grace Fox. This year’s Queen will receive P10k cash prize.

Parawakan Queen 2023 is brought to you by Sydney Loyola, Belinda Thomas, Arnold Torrecer, Palawan Real Property. Hon. Brgy. San Miguel Capt. Russel Gloriani, in cooperation with Tanduay, The Soap Basket, Megasoft Hygenic, Poten Cee, Arnold Biton, Francisco Castillo, Vogere Salon, Palawan Uno Hotel, Rommel Mercado Jr, The Assassin Clothing and MGM Jewelry Shop.

Ticket for the show is P100, show start on Saturday, June 10 at 9 in the evening only at Runway Plaza.