Who among these ladies will take the crown to represent this year’s Miss Universe?
In celebration of Women’s Month, let us meet these ladies who are not just vying for the crown and title as they are about to grace the stage, but also ready to share their heart-touching advocacies with their goal of inspiring people from all over the universe.
1. Alexie Brooks (Iloilo City)
Alexie Brooks acknowledges her grandmother, Lola Basing, for inspiring her love for women’s empowerment. She grew up helping to sell vegetables in a neighborhood market in Iloilo City alongside Lola Basing, who served as her primary source of inspiration for standing up for the rights and possibilities of women. Brooks experienced bullying all of her life because of her skin tone and unusually curly hair, but athletics gave her a sense of empowerment. With her advocacy effort, “Abanse Babaye” now puts her attention toward empowering women with the goal of giving Filipinas access to the same opportunities she discovered through sports.
2. Stacey Daniella Gabriel (Cainta, Rizal)
Stacey Daniella Gabriel looks after a prison ministry that helps seven hundred senior citizen inmates, carrying on her grandmother’s culture of kindness and dedication. She additionally works as an actor who has been inspired by the goal of developing empathy through the power of storytelling. By sharing her personal experience of overcoming anxiety and OCD, she hopes to encourage people to embrace vulnerabilities as an embodiment of empowerment.
3. Victoria Velasquez Vincent (Bacoor)
Inspired by her early struggles along with her mother, Victoria Velasquez Vincent uses pageantry as a means of advocating for safe places to live on both an emotional and physical level. The purpose she has is to represent her dedication to bringing about positive change by serving those in need, preserving cultural heritage, and upholding the Bayanihan spirit.
4. Ma. Ahtisa Manalo (Quezon Province)
Despite growing up underprivileged, Ma. Ahtisa Manalo exhibited an early desire for entrepreneurship; at the age of 21, she founded a food and beverage company after receiving a degree in accounting. Her dedication to community empowerment is evident in the fact that her company now employs a thousand Filipinos. She struggled financially but embraced pageants to help her study and obtain scholarships. With the encouragement of her loved ones, pageantry developed into her passion. She now wants to use self-empowerment as a tool to encourage people to believe in their capabilities and overcome challenges.
5. Kayla Jean Carter (Filipino Community of Northern California)
Talisay, Cebu, is where Kayla Jean Carter’s family originated. Carter, who has overcome bullying and Von Willebrand’s disease, aspires to be an inspiration of hope for young individuals, encouraging them to follow their dreams and disregard those who tell them differently. Carter wants to be a living example of how compassion is the truest form of beauty and that women are more than what they seem. She is a strong advocate for the idea that women are strong, powerful, and capable of helping to influence the way things go.
6. Tarah Valencia (Baguio City)
Growing up in the Philippines’ Summer Capital, Tarah Valencia became deeply passionate about the travel and tourism sectors, leading her to promote sustainability, with a particular emphasis on responsible tourism, out of a desire to lessen the harmful effects of tourism on the environment. She regularly organizes and takes part in clean-up campaigns in her community, intending to encourage visitors as well as citizens to take meaningful steps to protect the environment.
7. Kris Tiffany Janson (Cebu City)
For more than ten years, Kris Tiffany Janson has been a TV host and model for commercials. She is well-known for her travel programs, “Like Pinas” and “Cooltura,” where she has found undiscovered treasures all around the Philippines. Currently serving as the President of the League of Cities of the Philippines and the Deputy Protocol Officer for the Mayor of Cebu City, Janson is enthusiastic about sharing her expertise in the area of personality development with women from all walks of life and inspiring them to follow their aspirations.
8. Christi Lynn McGarry (Taguig City)
Christi Lynn McGarry, a 33-year-old Filipino-American television personality, has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and works as a professional model, host, DJ, and creative. She is passionate about promoting and protecting the Philippines’ natural beauty in her role as host of a travel show. Her advocacy revolves around sustainability and eco-tourism, with the goal of encouraging people to discover the amazing wonders of nature while promoting responsible travel habits—all at the same time bringing her energetic personality into the DJ booths.
9. Chelsea Manalo (Bulacan)
Chelsea Manalo, a Filipino-American, has been modeling since she was 14 years old, featuring in print ads, commercials, and magazines. However, Chelsea had to endure severe racism and bullying at a very young age, which made her an advocate of youth empowerment with an eye on education for children, particularly in communities of indigenous peoples.
10. Cyrille Payumo (Pampanga)
Cyrille Payumo is well-known for her career achievements as a fashion model and her current journey into the real estate industry, in addition to beauty pageants. Payumo is in support of protecting the traditions and ways of life of the Porac, Pampanga’s Aeta communities. She also found boldness and acceptance in the Aeta community, and her tale serves as a moving example of the value of appreciating and accepting diversity in culture.
This proves that these women are not just after the crown and are beautiful on the outside, but they are also beautiful on the inside, with hearts filled with gold that shines within.
