Miss Philippines Bea Rose Santiago was crowned Miss International 2013 on Tuesday, December 17, in Tokyo, Japan, according to Dawn.com.
Santiago is the 5th Filipina to bag the crown of Miss International and the 3rd major crown won by a Filipina.
In her final statement before announcing who the winner will be, Santiago took the opportunity to thank the whole world for helping the Philippines after the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan, the first super storm ever recorded in history.
She called for unity among nations during her final statement.
"If I win the crown, I will help promote camaraderie among countries," Santiago said.
When crowned, Santiago, again addressed the crowd and promised to put to good use the responsibilities the crown expects her to do.
"This is my dream. Thank you Japan for giving it to me," Santiago said. "I'm going to use my crown and my title to help the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan,"
Haiyan ravaged Tacloban City and other parts of the islands of the Visayas region last month leaving nearly 8,000 people dead or missing, according to a Rappler.com report.
The newly crowned Miss International was chosen from among 67 candidates. Miss Netherlands was hailed first runner-up, while Miss New Zealand was second runner-up. Miss Colombia and Miss Hungary were part of the Top 5 pageant contestants.
However, the pageant was also marred with controversy. Pageant organizers broke its tradition of an outgoing-Miss International title holder crowning the present winner. Instead of Japanese Ikumi Yoshimatsu, Miss International 2012, Spain's Miss International 2008 put the crown on Santiago.
"I really wanted to meet her," Santiago said referring to Yoshimatsu. "It was very unfortunate because I really wanted to meet last year's winner also."
Since winning the title, Yoshimatsu faced a legal battle to maintain her independence from management agencies in Japan with whom she used to work. The management agencies, according to reports, form the backbone of Japan's entertainment industry.
Miss International pageant organizers asked Yohsimatsu to keep a low profile and stay away from the limelight.
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