Binibining Pilipinas apologizes over controversial 'natural woman' post after online backlash

Binibining Pilipinas has issued an apology over their recent social media post that drew backlash online.

Last Oct. 1, the organization’s Facebook account reposted a photo of Miss International Philippines 2021 Hannah Arnold with a caption saying: “Naturaaaaaal woman.”

One of the netizens who reacted to the post was Filipino drag queen Dee Dee Holiday who posted a screen grab of the post and asked Binibining Pilipinas to “elaborate.”

“Dear Binibining Pilipinas, What’s good? Elaborate,” Dee Dee wrote, followed by a trail of rainbow flag emojis.

The post also drew criticism on Twitter as netizens scored the pageant organization for allegedly “throwing shade” and being “homophobic” towards openly-gay beauty queen Beatrice Luigi Gomez who was recently crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2021.

On October 2, Binibining Pilipinas issued an apology statement saying they had taken down the post.

“There was no intention to throw malice at any individual,” the organization said. “But we understand the impression created by the said caption given its timing."

Binibining Pilipinas added their organization “has always been about celebrating Filipinas of all backgrounds” and that they “will never consciously do anything to minimize the experience and truth of anyone.”

They also appealed to netizens to “spare BBP queens from negative comments and messages since they had nothing to do with the post.”

"BBP acknowledges the sentiments of the netizens,” they said. “We took down the social media post, and we will ensure that future posts will be properly vetted and cleared by the organization. Moving forward, we commit to being more mindful online." —Margaret Claire Layug/JCB, GMA News