QUEZON CITY, Philippines — In the Philippines, pageantry is the unofficial national sport and the annual Miss Universe is the Olympics.
Pageants permeate through all levels of our society, from big-time competitions like Miss World and Miss International, down to the barangay and city level.
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We fashion runways and Q&As in our very homes, finding ourselves in our Pinoy representatives who duke it out with scores of competent and confident beauties worldwide.
We’re especially excited when we find traces of our national identity outside of our own pageant bets in prestigious events like Miss Universe.
To save internet detectives the hassle, here’s a guide that shows how the 68th Miss Universe candidates of other countries are connected to the Philippines.
By blood
Belgium-born Filipina Angeline Flor Pua has been described by some as the Philippines’ second bet during this year’s competition.
The 24-year-old’s parents respectively have Chinese-Filipino and Filipino blood.
Miss Universe Belgium 2019, however, said she is confident of her Belgian identity.
The model-host is also a commercial pilot who advocates values of equality, empowerment and diversity.
By school
Miss Universe Japan 2019 Ako Kamo studied in the Philippines as an exchange student at the Assumption College in Makati back in 2017.
Ako took up media studies and production for six months, even learning a few Tagalog words along the way.
By designer
The Miss Universe 2019 bets of Ireland, Japan, Sierra Leone and Singapore were also graced with garments from Filipino fashion designers Joey Galon, Joel Escober, Benj Leguiab and Michael Cinco.
Local fashion brand G-Sonsie also provided the swimwear to be used during the actual competition.