Interior designer is Phl Miss U bet

MANILA, Philippines - The interior designer named 2016 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Sunday night after a three-hour pageant at Smart Araneta Coliseum was “Face of the Week” in the Allure section of The Philippine STAR in September 2014.

Maxine Medina, 25, will represent the country at this year’s Miss Universe pageant, which might be held in the Philippines for the third time, after 1974 (won by the late Amparo Muñoz of Spain) and 1994 (won by India’s Sushmita Sen).

The reigning Miss Universe is the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach who is pushing for the holding of the pageant here.

Asked about the possibility of a back-to-back win for the Philippines (so far, only Venezuela has achieved that record), Maxine said she’s keeping her fingers crossed.

“But I will do my very best to bring honor to the country like Pia did,” said the Philippine School of Interior Design graduate who’s a member of the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP).

Maxine was one of six Binibinis chosen by a board of judges that included Paulo Roxas (son of former interior secretary and presidential candidate Mar Roxas), 2015 Miss USA Olivia Jordan (who placed second runner-up to Pia in the Miss Universe Pageant and is now Pia’s roommate at a condo unit owned by former Miss Universe pageant franchise owner Donald Trump), actor Ian Veneracion and executives Cory Vidanes and Laurente Dyogi of ABS-CBN, which aired the pageant.

The other winners were:

Bb. Pilipinas-International Kylie Verzosa, 24, a B.S. Management graduate from Ateneo de Manila University, who will represent the country at the Miss International contest in Japan sometime in October;

Bb. Pilipinas Globe Nichole Manalo, 26, a nurse currently working at the ICU of a government hospital, who comes from a family of beauty queens (1968 Bb. Pilipinas-International Nini Ramos is her aunt, while her two sisters, Kate and Bianca, are former Bb. Pilipinas-Universe);

Bb. Grand International Nicole Cordoves, 23, who works at the Department of Finance, who will represent the country at the Miss Globe contest in Germany in December;

Bb. Pilipinas-Inter-Continental Jennifer Hammond, 25, who was raised in Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro;

Bb. Pilipinas-Supranational Joanna Eden, 19, an International Studies sophomore at De La Salle University.

First runner-up was Angelica Aleta, 20, a member of ABS-CBN’s Star Circle (where Pia also started her showbiz career); and second runner-up was Jehza Mae Hueler, 21, a Finance graduate from Davao.

During her farewell speech, Pia gave the winners this advice: “Remember to give your best. Behind that beautiful gown, your knees might be trembling, like me right now. I’m still not used to it. Being in front of millions can be nerve-wracking. You have to remember that you are wearing that sash that proudly says PHILIPPINES. In your moment of doubt, remember that you have the whole country cheering you on.”