It seems beauty pageants are not all about sisterhood because Sandra Lemonon appeared somewhat peeved that she didn’t bring home the crown at the Miss Universe Philippines held over the weekend.
Lemon posted several cryptic messages on her Instagram stories yesterday, alluding to the pageant won by Miss Iloilo Rabiya Mateo.
“Get ready loves, tomorrow I will be announcing big news, it’s time to be honest & speak facts,” Lemonon, who represented Taguig City, wrote in one post.
Read: What happens when a Filipino wins an international beauty pageant?
In another post, the beauty queen wrote, “[T]he truth always comes out. It’s just about timing. Karma is real. [S]oon. Because we deserve justice.”
Lemonon wrote a follow-up post that seems to refer to a statement made by Miss Universe Philippines national director Shamcey Supsup-Lee. On her Instagram, Lee wrote that the true mark of a beauty queen is “to bear defeat with dignity, to accept criticism with poise, [and] to receive honors with humility.”
Lemonon posted an image of a cup of tea on her account, where she wrote that “accepting defeat graciously” is what sets a beauty queen apart from the rest, but “real queens play fair, [and] don’t cheat.”
In another post, Lemonon shared a tweet written by a fan, where he wrote that the beauty queen has lost to former Miss Universe Catriona Gray twice “but she never mentioned any injustices and unfair treatment in the past.”
“Therefore, there’s really something wrong that made her speak up not only for herself, but also for the other contestants,” her fan wrote.
“Only people without a clear conscience should be afraid of the truth,” the beauty queen added in another post.
Read: For Beauty and Country: Gay Filipino men in the world of pageants
Lemonon has yet to explain what her posts are about as of today. Her statements and the absence of runner-up Michelle Gumabao from the winners’ final presentation have made the inaugural Miss Universe Philippines one of the most controversial local pageants this year.
For 50 years until 2019, the country’s representative to the Miss Universe was chosen through the Binibining Pilipinas pageant. However, after the franchise expired, the Miss Universe headquarters awarded it to Lee, the third runner-up in the Miss Universe 2011.
Reader Interactions