The News UpFront: (TOP STORY) as of Sunday, May 30, 2010 

J udges refused to be swayed by the annoying-and-rambunctious youthful audience at the latest edition of the Miss Manila beauty pageant in midtown Toronto, choosing a candidate who her mother says "excelled in everything in school" that she's been named student of the year. Smart and articulate, Inah Canlapan, a grade-10 student in a Catholic school in a western Toronto suburb, might as well be the best representative for the Filipino community. She's in a position to dispel the stereotype mainstream Canada has about Filipinos.

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THE 2010 MISS MANILA-TORONTO

A Rowdy Search for a Beauty-and-Brains Filipina

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)

and Asian-American Journalists Association (AAJA)

T ORONTO - Smart, articulate, nubile – eleven of them all gathered Saturday (May 29, 2010) in one boisterous contest of pulchritude and talent.

Undoubtedly, they were the best, the closest to being youth representatives for the Filipino-Canadian community of more than 200,000 in the greater Toronto area alone.

In a city where every other Filipino woman, young and old, is mistaken for either a caregiver or a dentist, the eleven candidates were a living, breathing visual, if not a physical, antithesis of the mainstream stereotype.

Please click the link to read the full story at: http://currentsbreakingnews.blogspot.com/). I took pictures and did some interviews. Videographer Imelda O. Suzara covered the story too and provides fresh video at this link: Miss Manila 2010 in Toronto.

Gifted, confident, proud of their heritage -- they all seemed imbued with a determination to succeed and make a difference.

The search was for a Miss Manila 2010 and her court. And, probably for lack of a venue that would reflect even a superficial Philippine setting, it was conducted at the Korean Cultural Centre in the Don Mills neighborhood.

When the ceremonies began at 7:30 p.m., three quarters of the seats of the half-occupied hall were taken by girls and boys, teenagers for sure, whose youthful exuberance, sad to say, exemplified the worst in social conduct.

Half an hour later, the cavernous chamber was filled to the last seat, a graphic testament to the magnetic power of beauty contests in general.

The adults who sat with the kids were presumably family – the parents, siblings, cousins, relatives. Then the organizers, their guests, their guests' guests and others who paid $25 (per head) to get in.

They never bothered how loud the youngsters shrieked and yelled at even the most-inauspicious moments; their eyes glued, and their ears tuned, to what was unfolding at the stage several feet away.

The kids were having fun. Except that their fun was not funny at all. Their shrill was uncalled for, annoying and disrespectful.

They roared every time their candidates' names were called. They cheered and jeered as each candidate approached the microphone.

Once the candidates opened their mouths to speak, the kids in the audience stomped their feet, shook their chairs, sat and stood, flashing banners and posters of their candidates.

They probably thought the loudest scream would find its way to the ears of the 13 judges who sat in front of the stage, transfixed at the parade of skimpy-clad contestants.

T here were more judges than candidates, yet none had the good sense to tell the young audience to stop making all kinds of noises that seemed to highlight intolerance for the competition.

The adults, on the other hand, also had theirs safely ensconced in a shell of indifference. They were so wrapped in their little worlds, fantasizing perhaps the time royalty would descend on their family courtesy of this pageant.

It was all in the spirit of fun, as most people interviewed for this story explained. Understandably it was.

With so many young people finding ways to expend their energies, this beauty contest was a misguided target of their enthusiasm. They were venting, for sure.

The sad part was when one rowdy group tried to drown out the other in what might as well be a shouting match.

In truth, they have practically taken over the contest itself, their uproar reverberating throughout the entire selection process.

When the time of reckoning came, the group which boasted the loudest had its candidate won a minor award.

The judges redeemed themselves too.

As if to tell the rowdy groups that they were never affected by their rambunctious conduct, they voted for the one candidate who  embodies the best and brightest in the new Filipino.

Inah Canlapan, a student-of-the-year awardee for excelling in everything in her school, is the new Miss Manila 2010. Toni Rose Jose is first runner-up and Sheryll Venzon, second runner-up.