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.
