Philippine bet Maria Luisa Varela has won the country’s first Miss Planet International crown in a competition held in Cambodia.
Varela is the first Filipina to win the crown and she replaced Binibining Pilipinas 1st Runner-Up Herlene Nicole Budol in the pageant.
Varela succeeded Monique Best of South Africa, who was crowned in 2019.
The pageant was supposed to be held in Uganda last year but it was postponed due ro problems with organizers. Budol even called it a scam.
The following are the other semi-finalists of the competition:
- 1st runner-up: Jemima Mandemwa (Zimbabwe)
- 2nd runner-up: Ona Aya (Japan)
- 3rd runner-up: Tiffany Ha (Vietnam)
- 4th runner-up: Katarina Juselius (Finland)
- 5th runner-up: Alina Safronova (Latvia)
Budol’s manager Wilbert Tolentino however opposed the candidacy of Varela saying that he is still the legitimate national director of the pageant.
Tolentino also accused the MPI as a rigged competition.
