TAIPEI (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN): The Philippines pulled off another back-to-back, this time in the 2025 Face of Beauty International pageant in Taiwan on Sunday evening, Nov. 30, with the coronation of Nikki Buenafe Cheveh.
The Iranian-Filipino beauty from Pangasinan bested 32 other aspirants for the title in the competition held in Taichung to inherit the crown from Jeanne Isabelle Bilasano.
Taiwan has proven to be a lucky destination for the Philippines, as Bilasano also posted the country’s first win in the pageant held in Kaohsiung last year.
Both Bilasano and Cheveh are from the same Miss World Philippines batch, earning the Face of Beauty Philippines and Miss Multinational Philippines titles, respectively, in last year’s national pageant.
But while Bilasano was able to compete in her international pageant, the Miss Multinational contest did not hold any competition. So Cheveh decided to rescind her national crown to pursue the Miss Grand International Philippines search.
The Miss World Philippines and the Miss Grand International Philippines competitions are sister contests under ALV Pageant Circle. The delegates for the other tilts may be chosen from either one of them.
At the 2025 Miss Grand International Philippines pageant, where Emma Tiglao took home the top prize, Cheveh inherited Bilasano’s national crown.
Tiglao became the second Filipino woman in a row to receive the Miss Grand International’s “golden crown” in the October pageant, making Cheveh’s feat the second back-to-back for her national pageant’s batch.
Settling for the first runner-up spot in the Taiwan tilt was Sweden’s Lucy Dimitrova, followed by second runner-up Julia Podkolina from Finland. Malaysia’s Jing Mun Phan was third runner-up, while Thailand’s Suppanika Nopparat was fourth runner-up. -- Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
