Bea Rose Santiago of Philippines was crowned Miss International 2013 on Tuesday, adding to the string of victories of fellow beauty queens in the country.
The Miss International 2013 pageant was held in Tokyo, Japan, with the event streamed live via Ustream.
For the final round, the remaining five contestants each gave a 30-second speech on the subject, "What I will do if I am crowned Miss International."
"The whole world saw how my country suffered," Santiago said. "One by one, other countries helped. I would like to thank who helped my country in our darkest hours. You have opened my heart and eyes on what we can do to help each other."
"If I become Miss International, I would uphold international camaraderie. I will work to sustain the spirit of sympathy and spirit of hope. As long as we work together, there is hope."
Watch her speech video:
Santiago earlier said she hopes to win Miss International amid relief and rebuilding efforts in the Visayas region due to the onslaught of "Yolanda" last month.
Landing in second place is Netherland's Nathalie den Dekker, followed by New Zealand's Casey Radley.
Completing the Top 5 were Colombia's Cindy Aguilar and Hungary's Brigitta Otvos.
Special awards, meanwhile, were given to Miss Aruba (Miss National Costume), Miss New Zealand (Miss Friendship), Miss Macau (Miss Internet) and Miss Lithuania (Miss Photogenic).
With Santiago's victory, the Philippines now boasts of five Miss International winners. The country remains second to Venezuela, which has the most number of Miss International titles with six.
The Philippines is on a roll when it comes to beauty pageants this year, led by the country’s first ever Miss World win courtesy of Megan Young.
Ariella Arida finished third runner-up in the Miss Universe 2013 pageant, while Mutya Datul was crowned Miss Supranational.
On top of these, the Philippines also placed in several other pageants this year, such as Miss Grand International, Miss Intercontinental, Mr. International and Miss Teen Expoworld.
source: abs-cbnnews