Miss Intercontinental 2024 Maria Cepero from Puerto Rico (left) and 2nd runner-up Alyssa Redondo from the Philippines. Image: Miss Intercontinental
The Philippines sustained its decade-long placement streak in the Miss Intercontinental pageant when Mutya ng Pilipinas Alyssa Redondo finished third in the recent staging of the international competition in Egypt.
The 23-year-old vocational nurse from California was proclaimed as second runner up at the final competition held at the Sunrise Remal Resort in Sharm el Sheikh on Dec. 6 (Dec. 7 in Manila).
Her fellow Mutya ng Pilipinas queen Koreen Medina started the streak for the Philippines in the 2013 Miss Intercontinental pageant held in Germany, finishing as third runner-up.
Redondo earned a guaranteed slot in the Final 7 earlier on in the competition when she received the “Power of Beauty” award. This was the same special title that 2023 Miss Intercontinental Chatnalin Chotjirawarachat from Thailand won. The Filipino contender also took home the Best in Swimsuit award.
Puerto Rico’s Maria Cepero inherited the Miss Intercontinental crown from Chotjirawarachat, besting more than 50 delegates. She had advanced to the final round of the contest by winning the People’s Choice award.
The new queen is the fourth winner from Puerto Rico. Elizabeth Robinson became the first Miss Intercontinental winner from the US territory when she won the title in 1986. She was followed by Maydelise Columna in 2010 and Heilymar Rosario Velasquez in 2016.
Venezuela’s Georgette Musrie Efesla held hands with Cepero during the final moments of the competition, and was proclaimed as first runner-up. Vietnam’s Bui Khanh Linh was third runner-up.
Celina Weil from Germany, Kenyatta Beazer from the United States, and Amanda Peresu Moyo from Zimbabwe finished as fourth, fifth, and sixth runners-up, respectively.
To date, the Philippines has posted two victories in the Miss Intercontinental pageant, courtesy of Binibining Pilipinas queens Karen Gallman (2018) and Cinderella Faye Obeñita (2021).
