The Facebook page of Binibining Pilipinas deleted a post about Miss International candidate Hannah Arnold after it drew flak due to its caption.
It was a re-post from the Miss International page with Arnold’s photo. The Filipino-Australian model will compete at the Miss International pageant in 2022.
“Welcoming the beautiful month of October with Hannah Arnold, Miss International Philippines 2021,” read the post.
When Binibining Pilipinas re-shared it on October 1, it was captioned: “Naturaaaal woman.”
The post immediately caught the attention of some Filipinos who viewed the caption as a “shade” at newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez.
Gomez, the representative of Cebu City, won the much-coveted crown on September 30.
She is also the first member of the LGBT community in the country to enter the international Miss Universe pageant this December.
READ: ‘Inspiration to every Filipino’: Proud girlfriend cheers Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Bea Gomez
Binibining Pilipinas immediately took down its post after it received a slew of criticisms for it.
Despite the deletion, some Facebook users managed to save screenshots of it and shared the copy on the platform.
Entertainment page CinemaBravo also uploaded a copy of the controversial post and also included screenshots of some criticisms placed in the comments section.
Some Filipinos also reminded others that a woman being part of the LGBT community does not lessen her “womanness.”
“Not sure if Binibining Pilipinas is purposely trying to be shady or this is just bad timing but when has a Lesbian ever been less of a natural woman? Lesbians, Bisexual Women have always been AFAB (A Female Assigned at Birth) so is BBP saying Lesbians are not natural women? Isn’t BBP supposed to empower women?” one Facebook user said.
“Kahit lesbian pa yan…Babae parin yan, totoong babae parin yan hindi transgender woman. Iba lang ang choice nya pagdating sa pag-ibig pero hindi naman nawawala ang kagandahan siya as a woman,” another user wrote.
Some online users, on the other hand, took the side of the organization. They viewed those who left the negative reactions as being overly critical.
“OA naman. Baka shady sa inyo pero sa nag post hindi naman,” one user said.
As of writing, the Facebook page of Binibining Pilipinas has not issued any reaction or statement to these comments.
For 50 years, the Miss Universe pageant has been under the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc.
Winners of Binibining Pilipinas competitions, therefore, have been the country’s representatives to the Miss Universe pageant overseas.
In 2019, the Miss Universe Philippines Organization took the helm of running the local contest with Shamcey Supsup as the national director.
Rabiya Mateo was the first crowned Miss Universe Philippines in 2020 before passing the crown to Cebu City’s Gomez.