Rizal Philippines - The Cordilleras' Zaniya Latagan, a daughter of Mr. Noel Latagan and Mrs. Anne Marianne Latagan, was named and crowned Munting Mutya ng Pilipinas 2024 in a competition concluding October 19, 2024, Saturday in Rizal Philippines, besting contestants from different beauty aspirants around the country and delighting her home province.
Growing up, she was a very shy girl who would wet herself under the rain merely playing and has always been pressured to go on stage in front of a large crowd, yet she has started to love beauty pageants at her young age.
Pageants have helped her grow as an individual and have shaped her into a young girl today - being confident, very outspoken, and articulate with excellent public speaking skills despite her young age.
During the competition, she picked up the hashtag #crown and gave her winning answer;
"The picture I picked is a crown. All the candidates want the crown, but only one candidate will get the crown, and that is "ME" as I do believe that the crown belongs to me because if I win the title Munting Mutya ng Pilipinas 2024, I will be a good role model to all the children. I will teach them how to respect their mommy and daddy and I will teach them how to be nice and kind to other people"
That's what her platform does - it empowers young kids to become the best versions of themselves with her affiliations to her adopted charities empowering children in partnership with the National Institute of Information Technology- a school that also aims to empower children through Honorable Councilor Vladimir Cayabas.
Not to forget the help of the governance of our dear Governor of Benguet, Honorable Melchor Diclas with his unwavering support throughout her journey during the competition along with her whole glam team headed by Mr. kristoffer Tabili as the designer, Ms. Dandan Ulalan as her make-up artist with the production assistance of Mr. Ardhie Leonor.
With these collective efforts, it was astonishing that she bagged all the minor awards- Best in National Costume, Best in Sportswear, Best in Summer Wear, and Best in Long Gown.
Thanks to his manager designer, Mr. Kristoffer Tabili, who made all her wardrobes throughout the competition, and who also won the Best Handler Award.
She also garnered most of the special awards- Photographer's Choice Award, Best in Catwalk, Best Top Model, Miss Glamorous, and Darling of the Crowd.
It has been Zaniya's dream to use beauty pageants to allow her to dream. She wants to be a queen to understand everything a lot better to help her generation.
She will continue echoing her voice by inspiring all beauty pageant contestants at her age to have a purpose.
We are role models to young girls and we advocate for the empowerment of our fellow, she said.
