Earlier, Liberation Queen Committee chairwoman Vinycia Seman said many young ladies were interested to join the fundraising pageant but their parents believed that selling tickets could be very difficult.
The candidates this year are Joni Francesca Cruz Castro, 15, 9th grader of Saipan Southern High School; Nizelynn Teregeyo Masayos, 17, junior of Kagman High School; and Mariah Dina Indalecio Ada, 11th grader of Saipan Southern High School.
Castro is the daughter of Frances Mildred Cruz. Masayos is the daughter of Nizer and Rosalinda Teregeyo Masayos while Ada is the daughter of James and Bertha Ada.
Masayos and Ada already have sponsors — their parents.
Only Castro has experience in participating in a pageant. She joined the Little Miss CNMI competition in 2004.
She said she really wanted to join last year, but she was so tied up with her scholastic activity as Student Council vice president and one of the exchange students to Japan.
“I’m a little bit shy but I have challenged myself to meet more people,” she said
Although, it is her first time to join a pageant, Masayos said she is very excited” and was inspired by her auntie, Francella Mengar, who was a Liberation Queen candidate in 1994.
“It’s hard this time but I know we can sell tickets despite the economic crisis,” she said.
For Ada, the pageant is not a new thing for her. Her mother and auntie were Liberation Queen candidates in the early 1980s.
“I am very excited and confident,” she said, adding that the economic crunch should not be a hindrance in supporting and joining the annual Liberation Day festivities.
Josifynn Vivian Quitugua Rasa, the outgoing Liberation Queen, encouraged the candidates to “work hard and don’t be ashamed to ask people for support.”
During her reign, she said she learned lots of things when she attended the official functions of the mayor and joined him in official off-island travels.
She thanked her parents Vinnie and Roca Q. Sablan for their continuous support throughout her reign. She also thanked her sponsor, McDonald’s and her family and friends.
On Friday, Seman said they distributed six bundles consisting 50 tickets per bundle to each of the three candidates.
The Liberation Queen committee has yet to set a date for the initial and final counting of the tickets sold, she said.
