Male contestants can command followers as much as females in beauty pageants. We saw this in international winners Alexander Aquino, June Macasaet and Neil Perez and in other popular candidates in bikini beach bodies contests, like Century Tuna Superbods and Mossimo Bikini Summit.
Of this year’s batch of aspirants at Misters of Filipinas 2016, one guy easily stands out for his distinct manly Pinoy-look. Christopher Comicho Dulagan, 23-year-old police inspector of the Philippine National Police (PNP), is a proud Igorot from the picturesque mountain town of Sagada in Mountain Province. He represents the Cordilleran region.
Chriz is the best specimen of the modern Igorot – bright, brave, tenacious, industrious and friendly with a good sense of humor and an exceptionally fine physique. Generating buzz after going viral in the social media, he is seeking to follow in the footsteps of Mister International 2014 Mariano Flormata, Jr., making him one of the hot favorites to win in the finals of Misters of Filipinas 2016.
“I decided to give the pageant a try to break the stereotype of being just an ordinary Igorot. I see in the pageants theme “Masculinity and Responsibility” the chance to explore and prove that cops can succeed in other fields of endeavor. It is also an opportunity to help promote the good image of law enforcers, the PNP organization and the on-going war against illegal drugs,” said the member of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Masundayaw Class 2016.
Chriz was asked to join Misters 2016 after he was spotted in Plaza Miranda, Quiapo while taking to the Manila Police Department (MPD) station a snatcher the police caught. A newly assigned officer at the Plaza Miranda PCP-MPD, Chriz currently supervises a police best practice, a feeding program that caters to the poor and indigents families in the area.
The fourth among nine siblings, Chriz endured hardships and struggled for 17 years growing up in Sagada. His father died at the age of 35 due to a vehicular accident and its only her mother who single-handedly brought them up by taking hard jobs in the provinces. Young Chriz looked for work to help augment his mother’s little earnings from planting vegetables after the death of his father when he was in Grade 5. He would find work in construction sites carrying bags of gravel and sand.
Chriz was completing a course in Criminology at the Mt. Province State College when he transferred to Silang, Cavite after passing the entrance examination at PNPA in 2011. In the police service, he aims to continue with his advocacy to protect and strengthen partnership with the vulnerable members of society, including children, old citizens and LGBT members.
“Working in the police service, I believe the discipline and perseverance required from us would work to my advantage during the pageant. This competition has strengthened my spiritual life and has made me closer to God. I hope that my fellow police officers, PNPA alumni and especially, my fellow Igorots will give me support as I compete in Misters of Filipinas 2016,” the 5-foot-10, police hunk said.
Aside from the Friday-morning feeding program at Plaza Miranda, Chriz has been actively participating in the PNP’s “Laban sa Droga” campaign, speaking in classrooms and distributing leaflets to the school children, like in Kabayanan Elementary School in San Juan City where he was invited as guest together with the beauties of Miss Philippines Earth 2016.
Chriz’ popularity among netizens has made him a force to be reckoned with and will surely give the other 29 candidates a run for their money when the finals of the Misters of Filipinas comes on Sept.18 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater Resorts World Manila, Pasay City.