Philippines' Samantha Panlilio makes it to Miss Grand International top 5 poll

MANILA, Philippines — Binibining Pilipinas Grand International 2021 Samantha Panlilio has the Filipino fans to thank for eventually getting her into the Top 5 pre-arrival poll and getting the chance to dine with Miss Grand International (MGI) President Nawat Itsaragrisil and Vice President Teresa Chaivisut. 

Prior to her Phuket departure, Sam implored Filipino fans to vote for her to be in the Top 5. And the Pinoy fans delivered!

From ninth spot, Sam climbed five spots to fourth place and clinched a place at the dinner table. She joins the representatives of Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Guatemala.

Now that the MGI pre-pageant activities and events are about to start, Mr. Nawat, in a social media post, laid down the criteria for the next MGI queen.

"The big expression here is - Ready to work! I don't care about skin color, where she's from, tall or short, rich or poor. She must be someone willing to work for the MGI organization with professionalism for one year. For this reason, we observe them at all times from Day 1. We watch who's on time, what and how they eat, how they relate to other people and to the other candidates. 

"Does she have the star quality? These are all important aspects. Our pageant will never pick a winner because such country will host the following year, or something like that. Credibility and crystal-clear results are fundamental for a beauty pageant. 

"They all come here with dreams and hope, so we respect that. Also, very important to us are, in order: 1) a good figure - This is a beauty competition and we do have standards. She will appear on TV and on the Internet everywhere so they must have a great body, and be in shape. 

"2) Personality. She must be nice, pleasant, and charismatic. She must also be elegant and have that celebrity quality, you know. When we travel around the world, or when we go to an event, everyone must look at her. This is very important!

"3) Facial beauty. It's not our most important quality, but it is hard to judge a face because each culture or ethnicity has its own features. And they all look beautiful."

The ladies will be entertaining the pageant world next week, on November 22, in the highly crucial swimsuit preliminary. Sam informed fans that the candidates will arrive in a boat and, once docked, the girls will be called down to walk into a designated runway space from a flight of steps. Looks like the stairs challenge is here to stay!

Continue voting for Samantha in all activities that need voting. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks and days leading to the preliminary and final shows at the DC Hall in Bangkok.

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