No brownout, and certainly, no amount of rain that poured in the late afternoon to early evening of Friday June 3, could match the downpour of excited candidates, many of them stunningly beautiful, indeed, as well as young party people eager to dance the night away and lend support to their bets for Huling Hirit sa Tag-Init III’s Bikini Open 2011. The candidates came all the way from Gumaca, Tayabas, Lukban, Lucena City,(Quezon), Calapan City, Bongabong (Oriental Mindoro) and from all of Marinduque’s six towns of Boac, Buenavista, Gasan, Mogpog, Sta. Cruz and the host town of Torrijos.
This concept of providing a venue for young people to party together for the last time, huling hirit, before the start of classes, will go on as an annual affair in Poctoy White Beach , a spot that has continuously lured summer vacationers , said Congressman Allan Velasco. The Marinduque congressman expressed his pleasant surprise that this three-year old personality contest has now attracted participants from nearby provinces, Quezon and Oriental Mindoro, as well as from the key cities of Lucena and Calapan. But this was largely due to the initiative of supportive private individuals who stick to the idea of promoting the public beach and test its potentials.
Energy levels went way up all at once with the opening number of male fire-dancers from Puerto Galera that elicited screams of excitement from the swelling crowd. 
The rain shower was defeated, finally stopping. But I overheard someone saying it’s the prayers of Torrijos Mayor Gil Briones that did it. Nonetheless, it was pageant coordinators Toper Matienzo and Bernard Revilla, with their dedicated group of volunteers who remained unfazed putting up makeshift awnings, tents and a huge one to cover the entire mobile stage just an hour before the show. Brave.
The 23 candidates clad in different attires all in black then came in to introduce themselves amid laser lights and upbeat music, but apparently grounded audio equipment, ‘yun laang. Then the candidates changed to casual wear and tried to impress the judges with the personalities they were prepared to project. 
Then in full fabulous form, the girls showed off in different fashion get-ups, some in party-attire, some in Lady Gaga or Katy Perry costumes, and many in revealing - even Victoria’s Secrets wear that fired up the crowd. You’re certain they’re mostly FHM or FTV fans.
Emcees Bernard and Aldo were right in warning the faint of heart to stay cool for the awaited bikini competition. The obedient crowd stayed cool and just kept cheering for their bets. But all the candidates seemed to want more reactions and in all confidence did scene-stealing sexy projections, antics, body-shakes, teasing and stripped away inhibitions that must have sent many heads spinning. Aldo did a good job with his interview of the candidates that offered some comic relief after the excitement. The fire-dancers returned for another eye-popping performance (They actually gave crash lessons in fire-dancing to the curious young earlier in the day as announced by Huling Hirit over-all coordinator, Toper Matienzo).
The candidates were then trimmed down to ten finalists who were asked to answer a question from any of the three judges (Provincial SK Federtation President, Lauren Rosales; MSC President, Dr. Romulo H. Malvar who was chairman of the board, and yours truly as founder and artistic director of Teatro Balangaw). The questions ranged from the mundane, to tourism, to environment, to the RH Bill.
The winners were proclaimed: Rizza Lusaya as Champion; Raizza Lusaya, 1st Runner-up (both from Oriental Mindoro); Erika Bianca Sarmiento of Buenavista, 2nd Runner-up. (Well, it turned out that the first two are actually twins, something that was not announced during the evening. Winner Rizza got the loudest applause and cheers of approval when she responded to a question. She hailed local hospitality and the tourism potentials of Boac and Torrijos, the two places she had visited, and promised to do her part in spreading this good news about Marinduque wherever she goes). Then the dancing started when the live band played on and played on for hours. All the stalls selling food and drinks never had it so good.
Random photos courtesy of Toper Matienzo.
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