BY NEIL RAMOS
The winners of the Miss Philippines 2019 pageant are claiming they have been duped of their prize money by organizers almost a year after earning their sash and crown.
Arlove de Jesus (Miss Philippines 2019), Jamilla Van Gestel (1st runner-up), Joanna Valencia (2nd runner-up), Camille Llorente (3rd runner-up), and Charity Dawn Jamon (4th runner-up), made public their grievance via a public-service program on TV5 hosted by Raffy Tulfo, Wednesday.
The five said pageant president Victor Torre did issue them each a check after their win but it only amounted to half of what they were supposed to earn.
Worse, all of the checks cannot be processed purportedly due to insufficient funds.
According to the beauty queens, they can no longer find Torre.
The Miss Philippines pageant was launched in 2017.
The five were crowned November last year.
De Jesus was supposed to earn P200,000 cash prize, Van Gestel P150,000, Valencia P100,000, Llorente P50,000 and Jamon, P25,000.
