PRINCE

MEMORIES OF HARI NG NEGROS (PART I)

It was back in the summer of 2003 when I was approached to screen for a new male pageant and represent the City of Canlaon. Back then the world was young and I was a naive 17 year old. I of course said my regrets to the talent scout but later on (because of consistent nagging from friends) I finally agreed. This is my pictorial review.

The morning of the screening I was scared. I did not know what to expect. I honestly thought I would be the joke of my friends and the town. I still remember looking out of the morning sun and contemplating how to get out of the situation. Should I tell the organizers that I'm sick? Should I just disappear into the forest? But something inside me told me to fight my fears and face my destiny.







During the screening we were asked questions from a panel consisting of the Who's Who in Negros society. Believe me, it was the most frightening situation. After the screening 14 out of 50 applicants passed and we became the first batch of Hari ng Negros - Ginoong Canlaon.






The week after screening the 14 of us traveled around the city and some even trekked the volcano for the promotional pics of the pageant. This is skinny me posing inside a balete tree. Yes, I said inside. I will talk more about this tree in another story. Here are some pics I was able to recover from the Hari ng Negros organization of my batchmates:

Jeffson Villanueva

Don Austria

Bernard Baguios

Franton Mendoza

Steve Serad

Ruel Peralta

Brian Montecarlo

As you can see the competition was tough. A lot of these guys were pageant veterans. I was actually the youngest in the batch. We started bonding after the pictorials. It was during this time that I realized even though some of us came from different backgrounds with shady pasts and indecent upbringings, none of that matter, we were just a bunch of young, crazy guys who just wanted to have fun!