From COVID-19 to anti-terror bill: How Catriona Gray copes with crises left and right

Photo from the Facebook page of Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray shows the beauty queen with children at the Young Focus Foundation, an NGO based in Tondo, two years ago.
Screen grab, Catriona Gray via Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — Trust Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray to always find the silver lining in any situation.

During her Friday evening Q&A session with Madame Tussauds, Catriona was asked by a supporter how she stays motivated and inspired in the face of adversity.

Quick on her feet when it comes to Q&As, the 26-year-old juxtaposed the question to the current situation plaguing the country and the rest of the world.

“It is really difficult at this time because like a lot of people I try to stay informed and watch the news to know what's going on, but a lot of times it can be very heavy. It can be very discouraging. I sometimes feel very hopeless,” she admitted.


“But something that's really been helping me is helping in any small way that I can. So I've been doing charity drives, fundraisers. And I find that not only helps me deal with the current situation, it helps me take away my hopelessness. But also it inspires me too because I see the other people who are doing the same thing or I hear the stories of the families or the individual or the frontliners and it just gives me a lot of hope.”

Related: Catriona Gray helps raise over P1M to feed Smokey Mountain families

Aside from her charity work amid the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines, Catriona has also been vocal against the anti-terrorism bill which was finally signed into law Friday amid widespread local and international opposition.

Related: Catriona Gray, Pia Wurtzbach join forces to #JunkTerrorBill

“And I feel like just setting your eyes on the right things...you can have the choice to focus on the negative or you can have a choice to focus on the positive and the hopeful. So I've just been focusing on the latter and it's been helping me a lot. And that's really how I'm able to stay inspired and to stay with high spirit.”

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