For Miss Universe-Philippines 2020 4th runner up Billie Hakenson, wearing her sash is a symbol of nine months of hard work while for 3rd runner up Pauline Amelickx, it’s a reminder of a big achievement and of being a role model to her ‘kababayans.’
“Iyak nang kanunti,” Pauline confessed when asked how she felt after not winning the highly-coveted crown. But it didn’t take long for her to realize how still blessed and victorious she is for her 3rd runner-up finish.
“I put my heart and soul into joining and my effort for Bohol and for myself as well. So, of course you feel a little heartbroken that you weren’t able to make it,” she said of what made her cry. But thanks
to the supporters who look at her as their own winner, she was able to see the beauty of her journey.
Billie cried as well, not for herself but for Pauline. They’ve grown close during their trainings and Billie was even rooting for Pauline. While she’s sad for Pauline, she couldn’t help but rejoice with Rabiya Mateo, who is also their sister from the same training camp.
The gorgeous Billie didn’t expect to land a spot in the Top 5. She has short hair, ‘morena’ skin color, and she’s bisexual, so Billie thinks she is not the typical beauty queen who’d dominate local pageantry. But she decided to join to prove that beauty is versatile.
“Beauty is not something that we should box and we should limit. Ang daming types of beauty and this is one of them. Hindi lang tayo long hair, hindi lang tayo bob. You are not limited by the standards of beauty that we see on the internet. And that’s what I want to show people,” she explained of why she joined the pageant.
It took two weeks before the win sinks in. And now that she’s finally grasped how the coronation changed her life, Billie came to realize that they have big responsibilities.
Pauline agreed with Billie’s opinion about beauty. “You, yourself is your own definition of beauty. You can just live your own truth and show that to the world and people will be inspired by your own stories as well and they will feel beautiful from within, too,” she said.