HILARY HOSIA

Brace yourself Marshall Islands, the long-awaited Miss Marshall Islands 2022 Pageant gets underway in September.
A press release from the Miss Marshall Islands Pageant 2022 announced the development over the weekend on their social media page following the signing of an agreement between Office of Commerce, Investment and Tourism (OCIT) Chief Executive Officer Carlos Domnick and Kora in Okrane (KIO) President Angeline Heine-Reimers at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Commerce last Friday.
Names of the 23 contestants, some of whom will be traveling from the US, were revealed during live stream interview with V7AB radio.
Unlike the last pageant in 2019, Enewetak Atoll will not be participating in the event because the Enewetak local government was not able to nominate a candidate.
In his speech, OCIT CEO Carlos Domnick conveyed his full support for the event and said his wish is that the pageant uplift RMI as a whole.
KIO President Angeline said: “we are sowing seeds in our young women for the future,” and added that many don’t understand the value behind the pageant.
Angeline also reached out to the general public to be conscious about what they post on social media, adding contestants in previous pageant suffered from harsh posts online.
To qualify for the pageant, one must be 19 years and older, single with no baby and enrolled in college.
In 2019, Miss Mejit Billma Peter was crowned the first ever Miss Marshall Islands. Later that year, Billma traveled to Papua New Guinea and competed against 11 others vying for the 2019 Miss Pacific Islands Pageant. She won several awards at the pageant.
Miss Marshall Islands competition is scheduled to begin 25 September and continue until 5 October.