Bb. Pilipinas International Angelica Lopez/ARMIN P. ADINA
When Angelica Lopez was crowned Binibining Pilipinas International in May 2023, details of her global pageant outing had yet to be released.
But Stephen Diaz, the Filipino head director of Miss International organizer International Cultural Association (ICA), announced on social media that the 62nd edition of the global pageant will still be held in Tokyo, Japan, and will conclude in a coronation show on Nov. 12.
At the time of Lopez’s coronation, her predecessor Nicole Borromeo was still set to participate in the 61st Miss International pageant scheduled in December in Tokyo, Japan.
Borromeo eventually finished as third runner-up in the 2023 Miss International pageant where Andrea Rubio scored Venezuela’s ninth victory.
Diaz earlier hinted that the 2024 Miss International may possibly be held outside Japan. The last time the global competition was held in a different country was in 2011 when Chengdu, China, hosted the contest.
He also said in a different social media post that the minimum participation fee will not be raised this year. “For 2024 there is no increase in the minimum license fee at #MissInternational because WE CARE! [blue heart emoji],” Diaz said.
Lopez, like her predecessors Borromeo and Hannah Arnold, is also set to relinquish her national title to her Bb. Pilipinas successor before seeing action on the international stage. All three were crowned more than a year from their respective global competitions.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the extended wait times for the Binibining Pilipinas queens. The global health crisis prompted the national search to postpone the 2020 competition, but the ICA cancelled the staging of the Miss International pageant in 2020 and 2021.
Lopez will try to become the seventh Filipino woman to be crowned Miss International, following Gemma Cruz (1964), Aurora Pijuan (1970), Melanie Marquez (1979), Precious Lara Quigaman (2005), Bea Rose Santiago (2013), and Kylie Verzosa (2016).