Among the first to open up about her experience is Miss Earth Guam Emma Mae Sheedy who shared her ordeal in an Instagram post.
“. . .I was excited to travel back to the Philippines . . .I joined the pageant to make a difference and be a role model to those around me. . .but what I did not know, is that a specific sponsor from the Manila Yacht Club would change the way I see pageantry and sponsors.”
“The sponsor, whose name is Amado S. Cruz became a problem for many of the delegates, including myself.”
“To focus only on myself, I was pulled aside multiple times to be invited to Boracay and into his house and insisted that I and ‘the Latino women dance for him.’ Amado S. Cruz grabbed my bare backside at the National Costume Competition where I was able to push him away. He consistently told me not to tell anyone about any of the instances.”
“At the Manila Yacht Club, Amado S. Cruz ensured that the team managers and security personnel were separated in another room. This is where he made many girls uncomfortable. A group of us left the room because we felt uncomfortable, but Amado S. Cruz → followed us and insisted that we stayed inside to dance with him. We asked our team managers to bring us to the buses, which took over 20 minutes for them finally to do.”
“Later on that night Miss Jaime Yvonne and Miss Earth England spoke on the phone with Lorraine Schuck, the Vice President of Miss Earth, who assured them that Amado Cruz would not be at any other event. From the moment the pageant started until coronation night, Amado Cruz was at every event and dinner he could physically get to. Since other delegates have posted, multiple other queens from past years have come out about the same behaviour,” Miss Earth Guam posted on Instagram.
Emma Mae Sheedy wants to help put a stop to this sponsor being a part of the Miss Earth International Pageant because he has become a problem for many years. (SOURCE: The World News and Instagram)