The Philippines is known for training and sending a few of the best representatives at the Miss Universe stage and has been the center of training for not only the delegates from the country but across the world. The trainers in the Philippines believe in empowering women and if there training and knowledge can help that then, they are all up for that.
Miss Universe Singapore 2020 Bernadette Belle Ong who comes from a Philippine descent was born and raised in the Philippines until she was ten-years-old and later moved to Singapore. She has embraced both her cultures with utmost respect and love and is preparing herself to take lessons from Miss Universe Philippines creative director Jonas Antonio Gaffud who also served as Miss Universe Singapore creative director in 2019. She is very excited to work with Jonas Antonio as she believes that under the guidance, she’ll be able to work on herself and the abilities and skills needed to perform best at the stage.
During the press conference when she was announced as Miss Universe Singapore 2020, she mentioned that she can’t wait to go back to the Philippines and learn and start training for the pageant and collaborate with Miss Universe queens especially with Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo. She also stated that there is a lot more exposure in the Philippines than in Singapore and with being Miss Universe Singapore 2020, she aspires to bring the much-needed exposure for the beauty pageants in the country along with working for the migrants in the country.
Bernadette mentioned that she was motivated by a lot of her friends from the Philippines to join the pageant and engage more in the field. They asked her to use the platform given to her to explore more and that’s something she is going to work on with the help of trainers from the Philippines. She said, “I want to explore how we could make this platform stronger in my country, the attitude towards it has its own challenges that Miss Universe Philippines would be facing. It gives the woman a voice, but that voice is not necessarily as impactful in Singapore as it is in other countries. I want to help make this platform as approachable for the future Miss Universe Singapore.”
The diva is strong, confident, and a determined woman who has always been supported and motivated by her family and friends who believe that she has potential to make a change in the society they live in. Her strong opinions, the desire to make the community better has always added as an advantage to her career and her loyalty towards her work has made her stand out. She strongly feels that beauty pageants have helped her to be more confident, assured, and focused towards being the best version of herself and now with collaborating with the Philippine trainers, she tends to grow more.