Misters the Pageant First Runner-up PO1 Don Mcgyver Cochico will be the country’s representative at the prestigious Manhunt International 2015 pageant in Malaysia as arranged by Prime Events Production Philippines, Incorporated (PEPPS), owner and organizer of Misters the Pageant search.
Cochico, 26, is the second law enforcer from the Philippine National Police (PNP) to compete in an international male pageant after Class Mabalasik’s PO2 Mariano Flormata, Jr. (aka Neil Perez) who won Mister International 2014 in Ansan, South Korea on Feb. 14, 2015.
Cochico, a six feet, good-looking policeman from Sta. Cruz, Manila, joined the PNP Class Makisig in 2000 after graduating from the Philippine College of Criminology. He now works at PNP Polygraph Division of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) in Camp Crame.
This year’s Manhunt International will be staged after a two-year hiatus from 2012. The last pageant was held in Bangkok, Thailand and won by the Philippines’ June Macasaet, the first Filipino to win the title.
Manhunt International was founded by Singapore’s Alex Liu in 1987 as a male-model contest and then turned into a male international pageant in 1993 in Gold Coast, Autralia and won by German Thomas Sasse.
The contestants are judged in national costume, swimwear, evening wear, and fashion wear during the preliminary round to select the finalists to be revealed during the contest’s finals. Awards are given for best in National Costume, Mister Photogenic, Mister Friendship, Mister Personality, Mister Physique, Mister Popularity (internet voting) and Best Runway Model, as well as five Continental Awards.
Cochico, who was named after the lead in the popular 80’s American action-adventure TV series MacGyver, was very thankful of the title Mister Manhunt International 2015 given to him by PEPPS, which has chosen its bets in four other international contests –Mister International, Mister Global, Mister Model International and Mister Tourism International during the Misters 2015-The Pageant. He said that he needs all the support that he could get when he aims for the Manhunt International title held by fellow countryman Macasaet.