Congratulations to Bea Rose Santiago, the Filipina who was crowned 2013 Miss International last night, Dec. 17, at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
Instead of a Q&A, the candidates were asked to deliver a 30-second speech, and the 23-year-old stunner said, “The whole world saw how my country suffered. One by one, other countries helped. You have opened my heart and eyes on what we can do to help each other. I will work to sustain the spirit of sympathy and spirit of hope. As long as we work together, there is hope.”
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”39402″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”600″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”600″}}]]
Miss Netherlands was first runner-up, while Miss New Zealand was second runner-up. The other two that made it to the Top 5 are Miss Colombia and Miss Hungary.
Bea Rose is the fifth Pinay to win the Miss International crown, after Precious Lara Quigaman, Gemma Cruz-Araneta, Melanie Marquez, and Aurora Pijuan.
This year 2013 has been a great year for Pinays joining international beauty pageants. Mutya Datul won Miss Supranational, Ariella Arida was declared Miss Universe 3rd runner-up, and Megan Young bagged the Miss World title.
Photo: Yuya Shino (Reuters)
Watch:
Miss Philippines in Miss International Swimsuit Competition
Miss Philippines – International shows her “Bea walk”
See also: 9 reasons why Ariella Arida should have won 2013 Miss Universe
