By NEIL RAMOS
THE Philippines’ representative to next year’s Miss Intercontinental pageant, Karen Gallman, is not worried with bashers claiming she is not Filipina.
According to the Filipino-Australian beauty queen, she’d rather focus on her quest for the Miss Intercontinental crown than waste time addressing her detractors.
“I may have been raised in Australia but I’m Filipina,” she said in a recent interview. “Sure they could argue I’m only half-Filipina based on lineage but I live here, I lived in Bohol for years, I know the culture, I know the language, I even speak Visaya. I mean, what would it take for me to convince them I am Filipina?”
In any case, Gallman is happy to have her own set of ardent supporters who believe she got what it takes to go all the way in terms of bringing home the much-coveted Intercontinental crown.
This is also why she’s overjoyed with the announcement about the pageant being held in Manila for the first time next year.
“To be honest, I was disappointed at first because I was really looking forward travelling for the competition,” Gallman said. “The Miss Intercontinental pageant is known to stage their events in some of the most beautiful places in the world, you know? But that said, I am happy they are doing it here because I have tons of Filipino supporters and I think it would be a big help in my campaign.”
According to organizers, Miss Intercontinental 2019 was supposed to take place in Japan but due to the lack of venues therein (owing to the preparations for the upcoming 2020 Olympics) they ultimately decided to stage it here.
Said Miss Intercontinental Organization CEO Detlef Tursies, “What’s the next best place, right? You got it all here, beautiful climate, warm, hospitable people, thousands if not millions of ardent pageant fans… we’re pretty sure the competition here will be a blast.”
Gallman, on her part, said, “I think it’s a blessing in disguise. I would certainly love to see my family come and watch the event and that would’ve been something next to impossible had they decided to stage the pageant somewhere else.”
The Philippines has never won the Intercontinental crown and many are hoping Gallman would make history being the first Filipina to bring it home.
The 47th edition of Miss Intercontinental will be staged at the Mall Of Asia Arena on Jan. 26, 2019.