Actress Megan Young, the Philippine candidate to the 2013 Miss World pageant, is currently under fire due to a number of provocative photos of her that were published in a men’s magazine last year.

An article on the U.K. edition of news website International Business Times reported that Megan, an early favorite in the competition, dtew ire from the pageant’s fans as her photo spread in the March 2012 issue of Rogue magazine allegedly made her a “sex object.”

“Rules are rules when it comes to the Miss World beauty contest it seems that contestants’ taking their clothes off is a clear breach of the laws,” an anonymous source told the website.

The user then wondered if the extremist Muslim residents of Indonesia--the venue of the competition--will use the alleged new controversy in their mission to prevent the staging of the pageant.

“Will an Indonesian group of religious and feminist launch a protest on Megan Young's naked pictures? How will Miss World Organization and Indonesian government handle this issue?” the user inquired.

However, Cory Quirino, the National Director of Miss World Philippines, had decried the issue as a “smear campaign” against the beauty queen.

“There has been a smear campaign by a negligible sector of the Philippine pageant industry to destroy Megan’s chances for a win in Miss World,” she was quoted as saying in an article on Interaksyon.com.

“In Bali, the mood and aura around Megan is positive and promising. I believe [Miss World chair] Mrs. Julia Morley has explicitly answered this one relentless Anti-Miss World Philippines person or group to stop emailing the Miss World office as they are proud of all the candidates, including Megan.”

(Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)