Mary Ann Mungcal, a model from Arayat, Pampanga, bested 21 other hopefuls to win the Miss Global Philippines 2017 beauty pageant held Sunday at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.
A frequent beauty pageant aspirant, Mungcal is a Business Administration graduate from the University of the Assumption who majored in Marketing Management. En route to winning the crown, Mungcal was also the runaway winner of several special awards, including Best in Swimsuit and Best in Preliminary Long Gown.
Winning the Miss Global Philippines crown also means that Mungcal will represent the Philippines in this year’s Miss Global International pageant.
Rowena Sasuluya, a licensed teacher in social studies from Bataan, was adjudged first runner-up and also won two special awards including the coveted Miss Netizen by Voyager DX honor.
Sasuluya won Miss Netizen after garnering the most number of text and online votes for the special award. The SMS voting in particular was powered by PLDT and Smart’s digital innovations arm Voyager Innovations.
Also making it to the Final Five were Jacqueline Mayoralgo (second runner-up), Ma. Mhaelen Mae Patano (third runner-up) who also won Miss Talent and Fina Jallene Gulapa (fourth runner-up).
Miss Global Philippines is a tourism-oriented pageant known for its tagline, “Empowering women, embracing culture.” The pageant is open to “both single and single mothers who possess not just beauty, but also the passion to serve and the commitment to make a difference for the Philippines and its people.”
The pageant’s coronation night was also the first high-profile event to be held inside Resorts World Manila following the tragic June 2 shooting incident involving a gambling-addicted gunman that left over 30 people dead and several more hurt.