8/21/2019 KLARONG KLARO: Si Claro Na Nga! UB & SLU Bets Hog the Spotlight on National Stage

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KLARONG KLARO: Si Claro na nga!UB & SLU Bets hog the Spotlight on National Stage

by Marciano A. Paroy Jr.

Good looks. Bearing. Onstage charisma. Advertising media appeal  – both in printand onscreen. Wit. Charm while verbally expressing one’s self. Some talent. Goodeducational background. Manners. Amiable personality while still retaining one’sindividual drive to outshine the rest. All of these are sure-fire ingredients for a win in apageant.

Especially good looks.

The probability of a handler finding one such person who embodies the above-mentioned attributes can be pegged perhaps at “10 is to 1” (10:1), that’s why handlers

are supposed to have a gifted eye in scouting that one “Siya Na” candidate –  in theabsence of a selection opportunity through which the less desirables can easily bescreened out as prospective representative of a participating entity (LGU, region,school, organization, etc.).

Two or three of the aforementioned qualities may usually be missing in the totalpackage of an aspirant. Show the scouting handler a hint of your tactlessness andyou’re definitely out. Some display of your brainlessness and you’re brought to thebottom list. A glimpse of your lack of competitive spirit and confidence  –  and you’reushered out of the door.

Consider this scenario: you’re from the commercial modeling industry and you’vebeen asked to do coordinating tasks for a beauty and wellness product – and field a pairof candidates for Baguio City; they must be college students; and the advertising appealtakes precedence: it’s a beauty product. You can no longer screen. You have two days.

You need to handpick. You then instantly become a scout and hastily took one malefrom the University of Baguio and the female counterpart from the St. Louis University.

Thus is the story of how Claro Shane Nang-is and Shareen Bay-an ended upspending their summer in a flurry of activities leading to the coronation night of thepageant annually staged by a beauty product, in its search for that campus male andfemale personalities who have the appeal suited for the product.

Result: Claro upgraded his Mr. La Trinidad 2015 1st  Runner-up standing bytaking back to Baguio City the grand prize, the title, during the finale of the pageant lastMay 23, 2015 at the SM North Edsa Skydome in Quezon City. Shareen likewiseappended her stats as Ms Kapangan 2015 1st  Runner-up by being selected as MsCongeniality. Lifesavers indeed for the modeling industry personality who instantlybecame a scout and handler.

That handler is actually a tandem: the husband-wife tandem of Erik Salvador andCarol Cachero Salvador. Erik, of course, is an authentic Cordilleran hero and idol whoreally did the first crack on show business and the commercial modeling industry  – by

way of his victory as Mr. Philippines World in 1999, preceding Mt. Province’s belovedMarky Cielo by seven years.

“I would say part of Claro’s winning formula is his being down-to-earth,” Carol

emphasizes. “You know, just one of the boys. This sincere sticking to one’s personalityhas an endearing effect that shows up in his aura. As an Igorot, he upholds this culturaltag of ours that what you see is what you get.” 

8/21/2019 KLARONG KLARO: Si Claro Na Nga! UB & SLU Bets Hog the Spotlight on National Stage

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  Erik and Carol handpicked him for his potentials to make it in the modelingindustry and even in show business, if he chooses to. Shareen Bay-an, aside fromsharing the same roots as Mr. Salvador, this Social Work student at SLU was likewise

handpicked by the couple, having worked with all the Ms Kapangan candidates as theorganizers for this year’s pageant –  thus conveniently having a pool of prospects that

they can draw their pick from.

Claro himself, who is the eldest in a brood of five children, can trace his ancestryto Kapangan, via his grandparents. Described by Carol as humble and respectful, he

matches his parents’ determination for him to earn his BS HRM degree at UB –   byworking part-time at the Baguio office of an insurance company.

Indeed, good manners can be glimpsed in his social media acknowledgment ofall the people who supported him: “This a   sweet victory because of all of you whosupported me through this journey. Your inspiring encouragement online and throughtext messages boosted my confidence to do my best for our beloved Cordillera.” 

Shareen echoed this by saying “My very first experience of a pageant at thenational level will be cherished forever. It will never ever fade from memory.” And thenthis was followed by a listing of many names  –  including the names of many of herfellow female candidates. Quite fitting for a lady who was voted by the candidates as thefriendliest among them all. Not bad for the image-boosting efforts of Kapangan.

The constantly buzzing online activity for both candidates  –  though far moreintense for Claro  –  helped snag for Mr. Nang-is the Mr. Popularity minor award. Theofficial online voting was appropriately matched by social media pages devoted to thecandidates’ online presence – most notably of which is the Cordillera Pageanistas andFashionistas Facebook page created by Jonar Guidangen Dang-awan, more known forhis moniker “Ako’y Igorot”  – who is based in Bologna, Italy.

Following his Manila victory, Claro was presented to Mayor Edna Tabanda andVice Mayor Romeo Salda of La Trinidad, Benguet by Erik Salvador  – as a courtesy call.This success story, which may be looked down upon by pageant haters, did rally usCordillerans together again, from wherever part of the globe we may be  – as we havepreviously shown for those who followed Erik’s footsteps, like Glennifer Perido (whoalso sat as member of the judging panel), Rickson Logaspi, Dennis Keliag and Apple

 Anne Bartolome who all did well in their online popularity. It somewhat warms the heart,knowing there are people out there whom you can count on for support, actual or virtual,and for all that, we say THIS IS A GENUINE CORDILLERAN TRIUMPH.

Si Claro? Siya na nga… at Shareen (siya rin)!  - wi th inputs from Carol Cachero