Trivia: Why Did Jewel Lobaton Became Miss Universe Philippines 1998?

Jewel Mae Lobaton, Bb. Pilipinas 1998 first runner up became the Philippine representative to Miss Universe because Rachel Soriano and Collete Centeno cannot take on the responsibility. Collete was 17 and was not qualified for Ms U. In fact, Collete got the highest score during the pageant but she was only qualified to win BBI, she was not  also qualified to join Miss World because the residency requirement is 5 years. Rachel, at the time Tisha was dethroned was out of the country for modeling assignments which the BPCI has approved and her contract does not allow her to come back. Rachel will not be able to prepare well and also gave a commitment to join a Pitoy Moreno show in the US. The golden opportunity fell on Jewel’s lap, and as they say, the rest is history.