Miss Universe Philippines 2021 candidate Rousanne “Ayn” Bernos extended sympathy to beauty queens recently disqualified from Miss Philippines Earth 2022.
Angela Okol (Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte), Renee Coleen (Ibaan, Batangas), and Cess Cruz (Antipolo City) have been disqualified for not meeting the pageant's height requirement.
Note that Miss Philippines Earth requires candidates to at least reach a minimum height of 5'4".
Meanwhile, on their respective social media accounts, the three aspiring beauty queens reacted to their disqualification.
On Instagram, Cess assured her supporters that she's "alright" and "moving forward to the next level of my destiny!"
"I’m incredibly grateful for my team who came up with a way to make this happen despite the short notice! Things may not have ended the way I hoped, but every cloud has a silver lining," she said.
Renee, on the other hand, is still "hopeful" despite being "heartbroken."
"Though I am extremely heartbroken, my heart is still full of gratitude for the love and support that you’ve shown me for the past months," she related. "I hope that somehow I was able to instill my advocacy to you. It has been an honor to be your Miss Philippines Earth- Ibaan Batangas. Know that even without the crown, I would still embody the values of a true woman of the Earth."
The latter also expressed gratitude to Miss Philippines Earth organization for the "amazing" opportunity to share her advocacy and the chance to pursue her dreams.
Ayn commented: "So sorry to hear this. Yakap, queen!" .
The latter replied: "@aynbernos thank you for standing up for us, Ms. Ayn! Standing a few inches shorter does not make us any less of a person."
Recall that Ayn fulfilled her dream of becoming a beauty queen in 2021 after the Miss Universe Philippines organization announced that they has scrapped their height requirement.
Note that the 5'3" content creator was one value away from the former minimum height requirement for Miss Universe Philippines delegates.
The beauty queen from San Juan finished her journey as part of the Top 16.
Meanwhile, Angela also talked about her no longer being able to push through with her Miss Philippines Earth journey.
She shared: "My family, team, and I have worked hard to build up all the materials and requirements for this pageant since earlier this year. However, we seem to have forgotten about one factor- my height. I was told that my height does not fit their pageant’s standards and that their organization would get bashed if they let someone below 5’4 push through the Top 20, hence, being grounds for disqualification. Had we been measured earlier on and that this was the case, it would have been much easier to figure out what to do since we’ve already prepared all that was sent as requirements for both our online and face-to-face competition."
Nevertheless, Angela reiterated that she holds nothing against Miss Philippines Earth’s environmental advocacies and queens, and she's still grateful for the opportunity given to her.
Ayn also comforted Angela, who was her Miss Universe Philippines batchmate.
"I LOVE YOU I’M SO PROUD OF YOU. You deserve better," it read.
Angela responded: "@aynbernos I LOVE YOU SIS THANK YOU huhuhu."
Miss Universe Philippines 2021 1st Runner-Up Maureen Wroblewitz, echoed the same sentiment.
"You deserve so much better!!! Proud of you always (heart emojis)," she wrote.
The disqualification announcement came only a day before the announcement of Top 20.
The coronation night of the 22nd edition of Miss Philippines Earth is on August 6 in Coron, Palawan.