Miss Universe Spain Alicia Faubel floors Filipino fans with fluent Tagalog while in Manila

The beauty queen was in the Philippines for charity work

Miss Universe Spain 2022 Alicia Faubel. Photo: alicia.faubel / Instagram

David Tusing Oct 15, 2022

A video showing Miss Universe Spain Alicia Faubel speaking fluent Tagalog is winning her fans online, especially Filipinos from around the world.

Faubel, 25, who won the crown last month and will represent her country at Miss Universe 2022 pageant in January, was in Manila for a week of charity work.

In the video, Faubel can be seen speaking in fluent Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, with a young boy as she offers him street food.

"Gusto mo'to? Ilan? [You want it? How many?]" Faubel asks the boy, whose name viewers later find out is Patrick, 11.

The pair can then be seen sharing a joke and high-fiving as they chat in Tagalog.

The video then cuts to Faubel and Patrick riding in a pedicab, a motorised tricycle popular in the Philippines.

Still speaking in Tagalog, Faubel asks Patrick who his favourite Miss Universe contestant was, to which the boy replies "Ikaw [you]", earning a hug from the beauty queen.

Faubel, who shared the video on her Instagram reels, captioned it in Tagalog, writing: "Brother Patrick is so kind and sweet. Next time, let's do a tokneneng mukbang," referring to a popular Filipino street food made of eggs and orange batter.

The video has been viewed more than 35,000 times since it was posted on Wednesday, with many praising Faubel for her kindness and charm, and floored by her Tagalog skills.

Faubel, a model and actress, learned to speak Tagalog when she lived in Manila for three years. She has also previously lived in Dubai, where she worked as a model.

In another post, Faubel said she will soon return to Manila to prepare for the Miss Universe pageant.

"Can’t wait for the start of November. I will start my beauty pageant training in the Philippines. Two countries working together into getting the best version of myself for the crown. Can’t thank you enough for the love. See you soon Philippines," she said.

Faubel is not the only beauty queen to head to the pageant-mad Philippines to prep for the crown. Miss Universe Bahrain, Evelin Khalifa, was also in the country last month for a pageant boot camp.

From right: Miss Universe Bahrain Evlin Khalifa, Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi, photographer BJ Pascual, Miss Universe Bahrain national director Josh Yugen, Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa and Ian Borromeo, the co-founder of Yugen Group. Photo: Yugen Group

About 70 countries far and wide — from the UK to Ukraine and Guatemala to Ghana — have named their representatives for the Miss Universe 2022 pageant, with more to be unveiled over the coming months.

The annual event, which was initially meant to be held later this year to crown the 2022 winner, was postponed earlier this month, extending the reign of the current title-holder, Harnaaz Sandhu from India.

New Orleans will host the pageant on January 14.

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