MANILA, Philippines – The Manhunt International modeling competition is happening in Manila on February 22 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.

Around 36 men from around the world are expected to participate in the competition. This will be the second time for the Philippines to host the competition, with the last being in 1999.

The Philippines won the title back in 2012 courtesy of June Macasaet. This year, the country will be represented by Daumier Corilla, who won the title of Manhunt Philippines last year during the Global Asian Model competition.

Select media got the chance to catch up with Daumier on Thursday, February 13 along with Rosko Dickinson of Manhunt International to ask a few questions before the start of the competition. Here’s a few things to know about Daumier: 

1. Don’t be fooled by the accent. Although he speaks with an American accent, Daumier grew up in the Philippines. 

“I grew up in Las Piñas from where i was born until I was 18 years old. The reason why I am good in English is because I went to Southville International school and we spoke English there for most of my life,” he said.

“This accent you guys are hearing is [because] I went to the States for college and I stayed there for 6 years.”

2. He wanted to be a pilot. Daumier took Aviation Administration at Santa Monica College in California as he wanted to be a pilot. He switched courses twice before settling on the course.

3. He only started modeling in 2019. His friends encouraged him to join a pageant called Mr World Philippines USA last year and he won. He was then encouraged to come to Manila again and formally launched a modeling in August 2019.

4. Daumier is not his first name. Daumier said that his full name is Luisito Daumier Corilla. However, his family prefers calling him Daumier, so it’s the name that he’s been using in his modeling career. His mom is from Davao and he has two brothers in the US.

5. He still loves Filipino food despite being away for so long. Daumier said that he loves balut, taho, and even street food. “I still love Filipino food. It’s never going away no matter how much I love international food.”

6. He has a lot of advocacies he wants to pursue. Daumier says he plans to bring attention to causes including animal welfare, drug addiction, and education.

“We got to be able to tells kids nowadays about the entire world, not just what we want them to know but everything they can learn. And from there, they can make choices of their own, not just their parents making choices for them. We got to give them the freedom, and the knowledge to make their choices in life.”

7. All the attention. Daumier is aware of both the challenges and privilege of being seen as a role model. Daumier said: “What I would do is for the young people who look up to me as a role model, I would tell them to try everything. Try everything that comes their way, do not be scared.

“Because you’ll never know what you’re missing out if you never tried…just keep trying everything, don’t be scared because one day, it could lead to bigger things in your life.” – Rappler.com