Not a Filipina? Miss Universe PH candidate Celeste Cortesi reacts

ABS-CBN News Posted at Mar 23 2022 02:44 PM

MANILA -- Celeste Cortesi is eyeing to represent the Philippines on the international stage for the second time.

The Filipina-Italian beauty queen is one of the candidates of Miss Universe Philippines 2022. She makes her comeback four years after finishing in the Top 8 of Miss Earth 2018.

In an interview with pageant enthusiast Luis Portelles, Cortesi admitted that there are still some people who continue to doubt her Filipina roots because of the way she looks and speaks.

"Some people told me that I'm not Filipina because I don't speak Tagalog, because I didn't grow up in the Philippines," she said.

Reacting to comments that she is supposedly not an ideal candidate for the Philippines in Miss Universe, she added: "I would tell them that what makes me a Filipina, first of all, is my heart. It is in my blood and I am a Filipina."

"And what makes me a Filipina are the values that my Filipina mom always gave me throughout my journey here. She always expressed the values of Filipino people, and those values have been with me up to this day. And that's what makes me a Filipina, a real Filipina."

Cortesi admitted that she used to make an effort to adjust to the idea of what Filipinos expect from a beauty queen, particularly when it comes to speaking in English.

She said there was a time that she made an effort to remove her accent, which was a result of her growing up in Italy.

"Many people also try to tell me that I cannot go for Miss Universe because my accent, it is not American... And you know, for a very long time, I tried to fix my accent, I tried to remove my accent. But I cannot. I'm half-Italian, I grew up in Italy, and I'm half-Filipina as well," she said.

"So the message I really want to give is embrace yourself, don't see those things as flaws or imperfections because these are what make you unique... Don't try to be someone that you're not," she added.

Should she win the Miss Universe Philippines 2022 crown, she will follow in the footsteps of Beatrice Gomez and Rabiya Mateo.

Gomez made it to the Top 5 of the 70th Miss Universe, while Mateo finished in the Top 21 in the 69th edition of the pageant.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/03/23/22/not-a-filipina-heres-celeste-cortesis-reaction