Neri Naig recently saved 21 young ladies from different countries scammed in a bogus Miss Young International pageant by suspect Mark Ancheta. She is now calling on victims to seek justice and is recommending reforms on beauty pageants.
“We encourage all of Ancheta’s victims to come forward and file a case against him,” says Naig who came to the aid of the contestants in the pageant that turned out to be a rip-off. She earlier slammed the pageant’s organizers for tarnishing the country’s image and said that shady characters like Ancheta should not drag us down.
Neri vows to pursue her cause further until “all the ladies get their much deserved happy ending and that those who perpetrated this injustice get their due punishments.”
The former ABS-CBN reality show star first met the ladies last Dec. 8, the pageant’s supposed coronation night, when she was introduced to them during a dinner. The ladies claimed it was their first decent meal. Later they poured their hearts out to her about the sorry accommodations given them by organizers. Sensing it was a scam Neri called on her friends in the media to investigate which led to Ancheta’s arrest by operatives of the NBI.
Neri had taken the ladies under her care since the scam was unraveled. The contestants from the USA and Hawaii already filed their complaints.
Meanwhile, Neri hopes that beauty pageants will reformat to focus not only on the contestant’s attributes but also to her charm and wit. “There is so much attention given to a contestant’s beauty of face and figure. There is nothing wrong with that. But heavy merit should also be given to other qualities. More importantly the heart to serve.”
Neri also looks forward that the Department of Tourism and the Department of Trade and Industry will work together to come up with more service-oriented beauty pageants.