MANILA, Philippines — Sophia Ng, a psychological therapist from Hong Kong, bested 40 other international delegates for the Miss Global 2018 crown in the pageant’s sixth edition.
The pageant staged its coronation ceremonies at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila in Pasay City on Monday night.
The program ended past midnight on Tuesday.
This is the third edition of the global tilt to be held in the Philippines. It was previously hosted here in 2015 and 2016.
Pauline Sofia Laping, chief executive officer of the Miss Global Philippines organization, has just recently signed an agreement with the global team, which officially welcomed her to the international organizing committee.
While she said that her new role would make her even busier, “my commitment to the Miss Global Philippines family will stay the same. I will continue to make it better even if I have a bigger responsibility now,” she told the Inquirer.
She also revealed that the 2018 edition was moved to February 2019 because of internal issues regarding the ownership of the global pageant that needed to be resolved.
A person she declined to identify hacked the international organization’s online portals and claimed ownership of the global tilt.
After the issue was settled, the international organizers reached out to their global partners and were able to bring over 40 contestants to the 2018 competition.
Barbara Vitorelli, the 2017 winner from Brazil, relinquished her title to Ng.
Joining Ng in the winners’ circle were first runner-up Amber Bernachi of Canada, second runner-up Tamila Khodjaeva of Uzbekistan, third runner-up Seydina Allen of Haiti, and fourth runner-up Pamela Lee Urbina of the United States.
The Philippines’ Eileen Gonzales, a 22-year-old single mother from Quezon City, finished in the top 20.
“Empowering women, embracing cultures, embodying the beauty within,” is the mantra of the Miss Global pageant. /atm