Dethroned beauty queen wants more in damages

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer representing dethroned Mutya ng Pilipinas 1997 winner Esabela Cabrera has asked a Quezon City court to increase the amount of damages to be paid by pageant organizers earlier awarded to her.

In a motion for partial consideration, Cabrera’s legal counsel Nelson Borja cited that because of his client’s dethronement, she experienced indignation that she and her family had to bear for years.

The motion was filed before the sala of Assisting Judge Ma. Rita Bascos-Sarabia of the Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

In his recent motion, Borja asked the court to increase the awarded damages from P400,000, representing the prizes due to Cabrera as the winner, to P420,000; the moral damages of P500,000 to P1 million; the exemplary damages of P100,000 to P300,000 and attorney’s fees of P100,000 to P150,000.

Cabrera had to bear “public humiliation and moral discrimination while studying at De La Salle University-Dasmariñas. The same feeling of emotional insecurity and personal embarrassment went through even in her workplace at different corporations,” Borja said.

Ordered to pay the damages were the Miss Asia Pacific Quest, Inc., which promotes, manages and administers the Mutya ng Pilipinas Pageant; Carousel Productions, Inc., producer of the pageant; Ramon Monzon, then president of Carousel; Leandro Enrique, then president of Miss Asia and Lorraine Schuck, co-organizer of the pageant.

Also asked to pay the damages was then Mutya 1997 first runner-up Annie Moraga, who replaced Cabrera as the reigning queen and eventually received the prizes that were supposed to be given to the plaintiff.

She was crowned 1997 Mutya ng Pilipinas but was supposedly forced to resign by the organizers that same year. Cabrera filed a lawsuit in 1997 after she was stripped of her title and crown because of allegations she was pregnant and was about to marry her boyfriend.

In her decision in July, Sarabia ruled in favor of Cabrera, who claimed she was not given due process before she was dethroned.