Through her advocacy, Celeste Cortesi brought the children of Marawi with her to the international stage.
With Celeste Cortesi making a big impression at the Miss Universe competition thus far, it’s no surprise that all her decisions are packed with a deeper back story and tidbits of Filipino pop culture. Today, she stunned at the preliminaries and proved that she is indeed a true beauty fighting for a greater, more meaningful cause. Exhibit A: The swimsuit round.
The Miss Universe organization this year allowed the queens to choose a homegrown artist to help them. Aside from her amazing physique and the hot pink swimsuit she sported, the cape she wore was actually hand-painted by the kids of Marawi during one of her outreach activities with Save The Children foundation.
As we all know, the city of Marawi has been war-torn since 2017. Just as Gandhi puts it, “If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.” Miss Universe Philippines Celeste Cortesi knows this full well and she believes that the imprints on the cape remind her that winning the title means having a purpose bigger than herself.
“In amplifying the voices of children who need our help, I wanted to bring them with me on the Miss Universe stage,” Celeste shares. In wars, it’s the civilians who bear the brunt, and most people forget that the collateral damage includes children. The organization chronicles how an 11-year–old girl was forced to leave Marawi in fears of getting killed by armed groups. According to Save The Children’s website, as of June 20, nearly 300,000 people from the city have been displaced—an amount that’s more than the 210,000 population consensus of 2015.
With her preliminary efforts during the swimsuit round, she made an impactful statement by choosing to represent the Marawi children and we can’t wait to see what other surprises Celeste Cortesi has under her sleeve. The coronation night will be on January 15 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans and will be streamed online. Go get that crown, queen!
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