MISS Pasay Celeste Cortesi bested 31 other finalists to emerge as the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last night.
The top 5 winners include Miss Universe Philippines Tourism – Makati’s Michelle Dee, Miss Universe Philippines Charity – Bohol’s Pauline Cucharo Amelinckx, 1st runner-up – Misamis Oriental’s Annabelle MacDonnell is and 2nd runner up – Taguig’s Ma. Katrina Llegado.
Raised in Italy, Celeste won the Miss Philippines Earth title in 2018.
At the preliminary competition, Celeste bagged Miss Aqua Boracay and Miss Avana. She also won the Miss Photogenic and Best in Swimsuit special awards at the coronation night.
At the question and answer segment, Celeste was asked by host Pia Wurtzbach: “If you could stop time for a day, how would you spend it?”
“If I could stop time, I will spend it with my family, especially my mother. It’s been two years since I didn’t see my family because they live in Italy and I came here in the Philippines just by myself. So if I had a chance to spend one day I would definitely be with my mom. And I will tell her how much I love her and miss her,” she answered.
The panel of judges included US lawyer and philanthropist Francis Padua, resort owner Tonee Co See, lawyer Margarita Gutierrez, MUPH’s Richelle Singson Michael, Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu, FrontRow CEO Sam Verzosa, business mogul Lia Andrea Moss, FrontRow president RS Francisco, pediatric doctor Jennifer Olay, veterinarian-model Joshua Sorrentino.
The pageant was ably hosted by Miss Universe queens Pia Wurtzbach, Iris Mittenaere and Demi-Leigh Tebow. (with reports from Jan Milo Severo / Philstar.com)
