Two more candidates of the Miss Earth 2018 pageant came forward after Miss Canada Jaime VandenBerg accused an unnamed sponsor of sexual harassment.

Through a lengthy Instagram post, VandenBerg said that she decided to leave the competition before the coronation night because she had an unfortunate encounter with a sponsor.

Miss Canada said that she received phone calls from one of the sponsors who asked her for sexual favors in exchange for a good placement in the pageant.

RELATED STORY: Miss Earth Canada claims she experienced sexual harassment in Manila

After VandenBerg shared her experience, Miss Guam Emma Sheedy and Miss Earth England Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown also took to Instagram to reveal similar incidents that happened to them.

Sheedy said that she has visited the Philippines five times before, and she was excited to visit the country for the sixth time for the Miss Earth pageant.

“The hospitality of the Filipinos is not found anywhere else. The Philippines is like a second home to me,” she said.

Just like VandenBerg, Sheedy said that the person who sexually harassed her was affiliated with the Manila Yacht Club but unlike the former, Miss Guam bravely revealed the identity of the man.

“I enjoyed a majority of the pageant, 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,” Sheedy said.

Sheedy also narrated the harassment she has experienced from Cruz.

“To focus on only myself, I was pulled aside multiple times to be invited to Boracay, private islands 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, but he consistently told me not to tell anyone about any of the instances,” she said.

Sheedy also said that there was one part during the pre-pageant activities wherein they were brought to one venue. The sponsor made sure that the candidates were not with their team managers and security personnel when they were there.

They got uncomfortable so they told their team managers to get on the bus and leave the location.

Later that day, Sheedy said that Miss Canada and Miss England called Lorraine Schuck, the executive vice president of Carousel Productions, the organizer of the pageant, to raise their concerns about their sexual harassment experience.

Schuck told the contestants that she will act on it and will not allow the accused sponsor near the girls anymore. However, such promises never happened.

“From the moment the pageant started until coronation night, Amado S. 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 behavior.

“I want to help put a stop to this sponsor being apart of the Miss Earth International Pageant because he has become a problem for years,” Sheedy said.

After Miss Canada and Miss Guam made their revelations, Miss England Abbey-Anne Gyles-Brown said that “it’s time to speak up about [her] personal experience”.

Brown said that she strived for four years to finally join an international pageant. However, the experience she was looking forward to after all those years was not as she expected.

“I was elated to finally represent England over in the beautiful Philippines.

“My trip was a rollercoaster of emotions, stress, and endurance and I did not leave the pageant as I was not going to miss out on the experience.

“I have many beautiful memories of my time here in the Philippines and many wonderful days. I met happy Filipinos who showed me such kindness and respect,” she said.

She said that she had wonderful experiences in the country during the course of the pageant. It was, however, overshadowed because of a sponsor, who promised her the crown, sexually harassed her several times.

Brown did not mention the name of the sponsor but she said that it also happened in Manila Yacht Club.

She said that the sponsor asked her which hotel she was staying at, as well as her room number.

Brown added that she, together with Miss Canada, reported the incident to pageant organizers but they only laughed at them.

“There was no respect or compassion shown to myself or Jaimie. I felt traumatized by this experience and had many sleepless nights. I was not sure who had my personal details including my mobile number and hotel room,” she said.

Supporting Miss Canada and Miss Guam’s claims, Brown is hoping that the other contestants who experienced sexual harassment would come forward too.

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