Beatrice Gomez opens up about her initial fear of joining national pageants
Former Miss Universe Philippines titleholder Beatrice Luigi Gomez admitted that she was afraid of joining national beauty pageants before.
In a recent Instagram post, Beatrice shared that she once found the idea of joining a national pageant to be daunting.
"As someone who came from a region not so close to Metro Manila, I've once dreaded the idea of joining a national pageant," she started.
"The idea of competing while being away from family or the financial and economic challenges I have to overcome before I can compete are few of the things that made me feel intimidated when I thought of joining a national pageant," she added.
But now that Miss Universe Philippines is doing its search regionally—a first in MUPH history—Beatrice said that more women will have a chance to work on their dreams without having to make significant sacrifices.
She added that witnessing the recent Miss Universe Philippines - Leyte as a guest judge made her hopeful and emotional.
"Having witnessed last night's successful Miss Universe Philippines - Leyte made me hopeful and honestly quite emotional knowing that with this regional search, not only do women from the provinces get the recognition and opportunity but more places and cultures will now also be promoted through this platform and I can't help but be proud that we have finally found a way to weave each other's differences and similarities as Filipinos through the most celebrated event in our country, the Miss Universe pageant," Beatrice said.
She ended her post thanking the organizations for making her a part of the event and expressed her excitement for what's to come.
"I can't wait to see more of Miss Universe Philippines from other regions in the country," she wrote.
Beatrice represented the Philippines at the 70th Miss Universe in Eilat, Israel. She placed in the Top 5.
Beatrice, who is also a reserve in the Philippine Marine Corps of the Philippine Navy, will host the upcoming Miss Philippines coronation night on Oct. 24, alongside Rabiya Mateo and Annabelle McDonnell.