Michelle Dee won the Miss Universe Philippines title last May 13, Saturday at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena. Dee represented the city of Makati in the pageant where she defeated 37 other candidates to take home the coveted crown.
The newly crowned miss universe Philippines is not new to the world of pageantry.
Dee as last year’s Miss Universe Philippines Tourism. In 2019, she also claimed the title and crown for Miss World Philippines. Dee is actually the second beauty queen who got both Miss Universe Philippines and Miss World Philippines crowns. Aside from these, her mother, Melanie Marquez was the Miss International in 1979.
And of course, Filipinos are known avid pageant fans. Every national pageant, especially the Miss Universe Philippines competition, has always been anticipated by many.
Dee’s victory in the pageant became a major discussion online for many Filipinos, with many on Twitter sharing their opinions on the management of the pageant down to Dee’s walk and gown. Many tweets expressed that they looked forward to Pauline Amelinckx, who represented Bohol, to win the pageant. Amelinckx won the Miss Supranational Philippines title for this yea.
Here are some opinions from online discussions regarding the recently concluded pageant:
Amid the criticisms thrown at Dee, many online users expressed that they believe she deserves the title. Many said that the new miss universe Philippines performed well in the question-and-answer portion of the pageant.
“There’s so much hate for Michelle Dee. Pero magpakatotoo tayo rito. She slayed both Q&A. Pauline redeemed herself sa 2nd round but if we are to base the winner sa Q&A alone, Makati deserves it,” an online user tweeted.
“Grabe, Michelle Dee does not deserve this hate. She clearly delivered sa competition and had the more consistent answers sa Q and A. I thought we were empowering women??? Now we can’t celebrate one???” another user tweeted.
Aside from Michelle Dee and Pauline Amelinckx, Krishnah Gravidez who represented Baguio took home the Miss Charm Philippines 2023 title. Dee will represent the country in El Salvador where the Miss Universe 2023 pageant will take place. The Philippines currently holds four Miss Universe titles after the victories in the past of Gloria Diaz, Margie Moran, Pia Wurtzbach, and Catriona Gray.
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