(from left to right) Gloria Diaz, Chelsea Manalo, and Margie Moran | Image: Instagram/@themissuniverseph
Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo recently reunited with veteran Filipina beauty queens and fellow Miss Universe titleholders Margie Moran and Gloria Diaz.
The moment was captured by the Miss Universe Philippines Organization (MUPH) and shared on Instagram, citing Manalo, who described the two queens as her “personal idols.”
“LEGENDS. Miss Universe Philippines 2024 CHELSEA MANALO is beyond happy to be reunited with legendary beauty queens and her personal idols Gloria Diaz, Miss Universe 1969, and Margie Moran, Miss Universe 1973,” they wrote in the caption.
The three met at the launch of the newest phase of the Pasig Rehabilitation Urban Development Project (PRUDP), with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez also in attendance.
Manalo initially met Moran during the inauguration of the Philippine Tourism Information Center in Intramuros on June 10, while she first met Diaz during the Parada ng Kalayaan at the Quirino Grandstand on Independence Day, June 12.
Meanwhile, another fellow beauty queen, Miss Universe 2022, R’Bonney Gabriel, also recently gushed over meeting Diaz as she shared their memorable encounter, albeit unexpected, at a fabric store in Manila.
In the Instagram reel, Gabriel and Diaz were seen talking to each other as the latter asked the former about her Filipino ethnicity.
Diaz then asked Gabriel for a photo, and the latter ended the video, saying, “I don’t even know how to act anymore,” after their brief encounter.
In 1969, Diaz made history after winning the first Miss Universe crown for the Philippines. After her, Moran (1973) was crowned the second Filipina to bring home the title, with Pia Wurtzbach (2015) and Catriona Gray (2018) following.
Meanwhile, Manalo is set to represent the Philippines in this year’s Miss Universe, which will be held in Mexico later this year.