Sampu Sampera Na Lang Ba Ang Mga Awards?

The result of Mister Friendship International 2024 is for Ripley's Believe It Or Not. 

Can you imagine the awards being given as if they were manna from heaven? To be exact there was only one winner and that was Taiwan. Whether it was a hometown decision or not was another story ... but it looked like a country hosting a pageant had a great chance of winning the title or they automatically became a familiar fixture in the runner-up spots.

The real story here ... is there is a record of 2 first runner-ups in Mister Friendship International 2024 finals in Taiwan last Sunday (Philippines and Indonesia).

Not to be ignored, there were also two second-runner-up spots, namely Vietnam and Myanmar. And don't turn a blind eye to the third runner-up —there were three of them: Thailand, Poland, and Canada.

Ano ba tayo naglolokohan? Wala man lang mapili sa dalawang first runner Up at walang maitulak kaibigin? Same with the second runner-up and the third runner-up... it looked as though there was a bonanza of talented young men in this batch and not acknowledging the presence of one becomes a mortal sin.

Gone are the days when pageants bestow the creme de la creme of the crop to only a select handful. Ano ... parang "sampu sampera" na lang ang mga awards?

Some trace this seeming explosion of pageant winners to “grade inflation,” or grade leniency (mostly seen in campuses and universities). when students are awarded valedictorian and salutatorian or summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude. There used to be one in each category, but that was in the past ... 

Seeing this phenomenon unfold in our schools (some say it already happening in Harvard ... I don't know about Yale or Princeton)... but it diminished the prestige of the Latin honors. It devalues grades, gives students a false sense of accomplishment and there seems a reduced incentive to excel.

And seeing these happen in pageantry ... it has some similar effects. You will never know kung sino talaga ang sino among the many contestants who were added to the elite group.

Kung susundin ang mga nagdaang panuntunan ... In this situation Philippines could be the first runner-up, then Indonesia second runner-up or they could be the other way around. The third Runner Up will be Vietnam and the Fourth Runner Up will be Myanmar (or it could be the opposite). Yong mga third runner Up na tatlo ... clapper na.

It is commendable that Mister Friendship International thought of sending the candidates home happy ... but it defeats the purpose of joining a contest. Nandoon na ako na natapos ang contest ... marami sa mga candidates ang umuwi na may ngiti sa labi.

Pero marami naman sa mga natalong candidates feels short-changed dahil sa mga pagbabagong ito. Pag sumali ka sa contest either manalo ka or matatalo. 

Let's end this piece by saying "Indonesia We Did It".