Alethea Ambrosio

 Bulakeña crowned in The Miss Philippines' maiden edition

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

Alethea Ambrosio of Bulacan was proclaimed the new The Miss Philippines winner at the culmination of The Filipino Festival at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. A working student, she advocates for continuing education. She was crowned by Miss Supranational 2023 1st runner-up Pauline "Paw-Paw" Amelinckx. 

Paw-Paw received the "Woman of Substance" trophy from reigning Miss Supranational Andrea Aguilera. The Peruvian beauty queen handed her trophy from the Miss Supranational Organization.

The three other finalists - Issa de los Santos (Mandaluyong), Chantal Elise Schmidt (Cebu City), and Blessa Erich Figueroa (Northern California) - who will all compete in their respective international pageants, will be crowned in a separate ceremony on February 2024.

Ambrosio, who answered the preliminary and final interview in Tagalog, endeared herself to the audience. And after delivering her speech in the Final Word Round, the judges were seen nodding in agreement.

From 21 hopefuls, the field was narrowed down to the semifinal round (Top 10). After which, the number was further whittled down to the Final 4. In this crucial round, the finalists were each given 1-minute and 30 seconds to answer the query, "What to you is the true identity of a Filipino and how do you intend to promote it to the world?"

The other ladies who made it to the semifinal round were the delegates from Iloilo City, Pampanga, Southern California, Hawaii, and Cavite, who won the Fan Vote.

Hosted by Rabiya Mateo and Andre Brouillette, with performances from Thai sensation Fourth and Josh Cullen of SB 19, the maiden edition of The Miss Philippines pageant was beamed live to a global audience via Empire.Ph's YouTube channel.