Newly-crowned Miss Grand Philippines CJ Opiaza. Image: Armin P. Adina/INQUIRER.net
When CJ Opiaza was crowned 2024 Miss Grand Philippines past midnight on Monday, Sept. 30, she did not only score her second national title. She also became the fourth woman from the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines court to do so.
She bested 19 other aspirants to inherit the Miss Grand Philippines title from Nikki De Moura in ceremonies held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City.
A seasoned pageant contestant, Opiaza was earlier proclaimed as first runner-up in the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines pageant. But her first national title was Miss Bikini Philippines, which she won in 2016.
She and three other finalists in the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines pageant have also achieved the amazing feat of earning two national titles from different organizations.
Before top winner Michelle Marquez Dee earned her ticket to the 72nd Miss Universe pageant last year, she was crowned Miss World Philippines in 2019 and competed in the 69th Miss World pageant.
Pauline Amelinckx received the Miss Supranational Philippines title after finishing in the Top 3 of the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines pageant. But in 2018, she already scored her first national title as Mutya ng Pilipinas-Global Beauty Queen.
Newly-crowned Miss Grand Philippines CJ Opiaza. Image: Armin P. Adina/INQUIRER.net
Krishnah Gravidez, who was in the Top 3 with Dee and Amelinckx, was proclaimed as Miss Charm Philippines. A year later, she now calls herself Miss World Philippines and is scheduled to compete in the 72nd Miss World pageant.
Dee, however, was the only one among the 2023 Miss Universe Philippines winners to get to compete twice in international pageants.
Amelinckx’s supposed global pageant was discontinued in the year that she was about to compete, while Gravidez withdrew from the 2024 Miss Charm pageant, which is still in limbo as of this writing. Opiaza’s Miss Bikini Philippines title, meanwhile, did not come with an international assignment.
Opiaza will try to bring home the Philippines’ first “golden crown” as she attempts to inherit the Miss Grand International crown from Peruvian queen Luciana Fuster in Bangkok, Thailand, on Oct. 25.