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| Miss Universe Philippines 2022 and Miss PLDT Home 2022 Celeste Cortesi (Image Source: Orange Magazine TV/PLDT Home/Miss Universe Philippines) |
Besting 31 other candidates with her unique beauty, wit, and passion for her advocacies, Pasay City’s Celeste Cortesi clinched the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 crown. The 24-year-old Filipina-Italian beauty is no stranger to pageants, after representing the Philippines at the Miss Earth competition in 2018. In this year’s competition, Cortesi showed grace, intelligence, and candor in conquering the Miss Universe Philippines stage. She shares, “I am excited to be part of the Miss Universe Philippines Organization. I will be working with them to advance my advocacies for women’s education and protection of our country’s indigenous people and rich cultural heritage.”
Besides her advocacies, Cortesi proves that she’s a queen with a uniquely beautiful heart. Throughout the Miss Universe Philippines pageant, she has been outspoken about her deep love and care for her family. “Since I was a kid, my parents have taught me the power of gratitude and kindness for everyone I meet. I always believe that being grateful creates a ripple effect and in turn, brings the best out of people.” Cortesi further emphasized the importance of strong bonds with family and loved ones. In her winning answer at the final question and answer portion, she said, “If I could stop time, I would spend it with my family, especially my mother. It’s been two years since I haven’t spent time with my family because they live in Italy, and I came here in the Philippines just by myself. If I had a chance to spend one day, I would definitely be with my mom, and I would just tell her how much I love her and I miss her.”
Joining Cortesi as this year’s Miss Universe Philippines titleholders are Miss Universe Philippines Tourism Michelle Marquez Dee, Miss Universe Philippines Charity, Pauline Cucharo Amelinckx, Miss Universe Philippines 1st runner-up Annabelle McDonnell, and Miss Universe Philippines 2nd runner-up Ma. Katrina Llegado. Cortesi will represent the Philippines at the Miss Universe 2022 pageant to be held on December in San Jose, California, USA. The recently concluded Miss Universe Philippines 2022 coronation night is available for free on-demand streaming on ABS-CBN Entertainment's YouTube channel, where the live airing of the event garnered an all-time high record of 641,000 concurrent viewers, and iWantTFC. The coronation night features performances from Bamboo, Morissette, EZ Mil, Sam Concepcion, JM Bales, Arthur Nery, and American Idol finalist Francisco Martin with former Miss Universe titleholders Pia Wurtzbach, Iris Mittenaire and Demi-Leigh Peters-Tebow as hosts and Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu as part of the prestigious panel of judges.
Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi is also the newest ambassador of one of the event's official partners, PLDT Home, considering that she won the Miss PLDT Home special award. As the newest PLDT Home Ambassador, Cortesi shows that strong connections can powerfully conquer distances. After winning the Miss Universe Philippines title, she even shared a heartwarming tribute for her mom on social media with the caption: “Far from each other, but always connected. To make you proud is the greatest fulfillment of my life.” As the fastest and most powerful internet connection in the country, PLDT Home has been enabling families – just like Cortesi’s – to do things better and to build stronger and more meaningful bonds at home.
