Another Philippine-born woman is set to make a splash in the upcoming Miss Universe 2020 pageant as Singapore handpicked a Filipino-Chinese-Singaporean beauty for the prestigious competition.
Bernadette Belle Ong, 26, was introduced to the Filipino press by Valerie Lim, national director of the Miss Universe Singapore beauty pageant, via Zoom conference on Thursday Dec. 10.
Belle is a host, model, and actress in Singapore who is also fluent in Plipino.
"Pinanganak ako sa Pilipinas kaya marunong akong mag-Tagalog. When I was 10, we moved to Singapore until I studied in Australia," Belle said.
Lim said that Belle will be trained by the team of Jonas Gaffud, national director of Miss Universe Philippines pageant. "She will spend most of the time in the Philippines with Mama J."
Last year, Mohana Prabha represented Singapore in the 2019 Miss Universe contest. She also trained under the pageant camp of Gaffud.
Rabiya Mateo is the representative of the Philippines in the Miss Universe 2020 beauty pageant.
On issues happening to the world, including the Philippines, Belle said: "My heart goes out to all of you guys! I hope you keep safe all the time."
Belle is not new to pageants as she competed in Miss Universe Singapore 2019 and she was crowned as Miss Charm Singapore 2019. Later she represented Singapore in Miss Charm International.
No date has been announced for the staging of Miss Universe 2020 contest.