4 teens represent Cebu in Olive-C national tilt

CEBU, Philippines - Two pairs of Cebuano students advanced to the grand finals of the search for Mr. and Ms. Olive-C Campus Model Philippines 2015 scheduled to take place at Skydome in Quezon City on May 31.

Frederick Lance Catacutan, 14, of St. Thomas Aquinas School of Talisay City and Raymund de Vera, 18, of the University of Cebu Maritime Education and Training Center promise to try their best to bring home the bacon in the male category. Catacutan is currently in junior high, while de Vera is a freshman BS Marine Transportation cadet who dreams of establishing his own shipping company someday.

 Princess Jayme, 18, of Cebu Normal University and Norecel Ibanez, 18, of Cebu Institute of Technology are both frontrunners in the female category. Jayme is taking up Nursing, while Ibanez is a Tourism sophomore.

 “Every year, Cebu has always fielded strong contenders, even in other national pageants,” said Jamie “Jim” Acosta, Psalmstre founder and CEO. “This year is no different. These four winners have stage presence and elegance, which are a big factor in the nationals. Raymund is a standout because of his height of six feet.”

 The two pairs are eager to snatch the coveted Mr. and Ms. Olive-C titles and vowed to follow the footsteps of fellow Cebuano Murielle Oraiz who was crowned as Ms. Olive-C in 2011. Cebu has been known for sending powerhouse beauties in the likes of Miss Earth 2014 Jaime Herrell and Miss Tourism International 2013 Angeli Dionne Gomez, among others.

 Mr. and Ms. Olive-C Campus Model Philippines 2015 winners will receive P100,000 talent management contract from Psalmstre, the maker of Olive-C, and Creworks Asia, the event management subsidiary of Psalmstre. Aside from the cash prize, the winners will also get the chance of becoming the endorsers and image models of Olive-C, a soap tailored for teenagers. Other once in a lifetime opportunities in line are the 15-month period free acting and modeling workshops, mall tours, one-year supply of Olive-C products, and the chance to be discovered in the entertainment industry.

 Previous winners who found their way to showbiz include Mr. Olive-C 2011 Hiro Peralta (GMA-7 Artist Center), Mr. Olive-C 2012 Jon Lucas (ABS-CBN Star Magic), Ms. Olive-C 2014 Ashley Ortega (GMA-7 Artist Center), Ms. Olive-C 2011 and former Miss Philippines-Air Murielle Oraiz who now works as a Philippine Airlines flight stewardess, while Ms. Olive-C 2012 Rohama Rearte, Mr. and Ms. Olive-C 2013 Joefel Alas and Chelsea Starling focus as students while regularly appearing as in-demand models during their spare time.

 In just five years, Olive-C has already been a big instrument towards the fulfillment of students’ dreams to become beauty titlists. This is in consonance with Olive-C’s thrust of providing excellent skincare and limitless opportunities to teenagers. Especially made for Asian skin, Olive-C maintains the youthfulness of the skin of teens on the go.

 “Psalmstre, specifically Olive-C, has the responsibility to take care of the Filipino youth by providing them health care benefits our soap could offer. As the company’s CEO, I am very delighted knowing that Olive-C has gone far in terms of providing opportunities for young students. I have realized that there is far more important than the business aspect of the product, and it is the mission of helping each student fulfill his or her dream. And for the Cebuano representatives, they are very strong. I am pretty sure they will give a hard time to their contenders,” Acosta said.

 A total of 24 pairs of male and female finalists for the national Olive-C tilt are being targeted, Acosta added.

 Mounting an annual nationwide pageant is no joke, but Acosta has kept at it these past years, even when the work doesn’t stop when the winners are chosen. “The biggest challenge for me is to provide the national title-holders a career after winning the pageant,” Acosta shared. “It will seem like a failure on my part if nothing happens to the products of the Olive-C pageant, so I strive to give them careers. The rest who don’t get into showbiz or join bigger national pageants are successful in their academic lives.” (FREEMAN)