International queens join Reina Filipinas grand final judging panel

The inaugural staging of the Reina Filipinas Grand Coronation Night promises to be a star-studded occasion, with not just one, but four international beauty queens in the judging panel.

First to be announced was Vietnamese superstar Nguyen Huong Giang, who was second runner-up at the first edition of MGI All Stars held in Thailand in May. She was also the first Miss International Queen titleholder from her country.

The new national pageant then announced that MGI All Stars winner Vanessa Pulgarin will also return to the Philippines to join Nguyen in the judging panel, together with Christine Julianne “CJ” Opiaza, the first Filipino woman to be crowned Miss Grand International.

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Pushing the international beauty roster to four is Gotchabell Sarunrat Puagpipat from Thailand, the first runner-up of reigning Miss Grand International Emma Tiglao.

Gotchabell has been to the Philippines twice before to accompany Tiglao, who also happens to be the national director of the Reina Filipinas organization.

International pageant shoe designer Jojo Bragais, who is the president of the new national pageant organization, had hinted in a social media post earlier that four international pageant queens would be invited as judges.

He also mentioned in the same social media post that a world-renowned fashion designer would be part of the judging panel. And the Reina Filipinas social media pages have confirmed this to be Dubai-based Filipino designer Michael Cinco.

Cinco and his creations were featured in the reality program “America’s Next Top Model,” and his celebrity clientele includes supermodels Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell.

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He has also created costumes for A-list musical artists Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue and Christina Aguilera, and part-Filipino Tony Awards winner Nicole Scherzinger.

Reina Filipinas will choose the Philippines’ official delegate to the 2026 Miss Grand International pageant, which will be held in India in October. Two more winners will be sent to the second edition of MGI All Stars in Thailand in December.

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The pageant’s Grand Coronation Night will take place at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Newport World Resorts in Pasay City on Friday, Aug. 7.

Visit the Reina Filipinas social media pages for information on how to secure tickets, and details of the public voting to help candidates earn guaranteed slots in the semifinal and final rounds of the competition. Twenty-one ladies are competing. /ra