Roxanne Cabanero pulls out of Miss World Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Roxanne Cabanero, one of the women who accused comedian Vhong Navarro of rape, has backed out of Miss World Philippines 2014.

According to the an interview that aired on GMA News’ 24 Oras, Roxanne said she backed out because she said she had to do it to focus on other matters, and to give chance to other candidates.

“Kailangan eh. para maging fair naman sa bang candidates. And ma-focus ko din yung sarili ko sa kaso,” she said. 

 (I needed to do it, so it would be fair to the other candidates. And so I can focus on my case.)

In a text message to Rappler, Cory Quirino, head of Miss World Philippines, confirmed that Roxanne pulled out of the contest, and said that she will soon be issuing a statement regarding the matter.

On Wednesday, Septemebr 10, Roxanne was introduced as one of the official candidates of the pageant, scheduled on October 12 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

In an interview with Rappler, Roxanne said she joined the contest because she wanted to reclaim her self-confidence, and promote her advocacy. 

Back in February, Roxanne accused Vhong of raping her in 2010. At the time she met Vhong, she was a contestant in another beauty pageant.

Roxanne was the second woman to come forward after Deniece Cornejo accused Vhong of raping her the night he went to her condo at The Fort in January. Both of Deniece’s rape charges have since been dismissed in April and in July by the Department of Justice and Taguig Prosecutor’s Office. 

Vhong’s camp denied Roxanne’s accusations and has since filed charges against her. – Rappler.com