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MANDAUE City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna yesterday said he found it ?insulting and demeaning? to the City Council and the Miss Mandaue pageant candidates who wore bikinis inside the Session Hall for their pre-pageant interview.
Fortuna said he was shocked when he saw the video of the interview during the Miss Mandaue coronation night on Wednesday night at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
?I was shocked to see the video presentation. It was a very inappropriate thing to do in a public building like the City Hall especially inside the Session Hall because it is just like the halls of Congress,? he said.
The video showed the candidates being interviewed by a panel of judges inside the Session Hall in their bikinis.
The candidates were seated in one of the black leather chairs used by councilors during their regular sessions.
Fortuna said the pre-pageant interview should have been done in a hotel, resort, or a house with pool and garden but not inside Session Hall where anyone could just drop by and watch the proceedings.
?The choice of venue lacks the sense of decency,? he said.
Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said the organizers asked permission from the Sangguniang Panlungsod secretariat before conducting the pre-screening interview.
Cortes said the women were not degraded because entry into the Session Hall was limited to the pageant judges and the organizers.
?It is fiesta time and the people are happy about the activities. That is what is important,? Cortes said.
The CICC was packed during the Miss Mandaue coronation night.
The crowd, however, complained about how the air-conditioning failed to cool the Summit Hall.
One of the judges, a known personality, complained they weren?t given accommodation and stipend.
