Get to know the pageant veterans who clinched the Reina Filipinas crowns

History was made at the inaugural staging of the recent Reina Filipinas show, with pageant veterans Angelica Lopez, Anne Patricia Lorenzo Diaz and Alexie Mae Brooks claiming all the three titles at stake in the competition.

Lopez bagged the Reina Filipinas Grand International crown, succeeding reigning Miss Grand International Emma Tiglao as national queen at the conclusion of the competition held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City on Aug. 7.

The two other winners, Brooks and Diaz, both received the Reina Filipinas MGI All Stars titles, completing the trifecta of inaugural winners of the newest national pageant in the country.

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MGI All Stars first edition winner Vanessa Pulgarin from Colombia crowned Brooks, while MGI All Stars second runner-up Nguyen Huong Giang crowned Diaz, a fellow transgender beauty queen.

The three new queens were chosen from a field of 21 aspirants from across the Philippines. And for many avid followers, the outcome of the competition was quite predictable, given the impressive competition resumé of the eventual winners.

Lopez, a dusky beauty from Palawan, has been collecting national and international pageant sashes. She was a semifinalist at the 2022 Miss Universe Philippines pageant and was crowned 2023 Bb. Pilipinas International.

She was also first runner-up at the 2022 Miss Asia Global pageant held in Thailand, and later represented the Philippines at the 2024 Miss International pageant in Japan.

Known for her electrifying stage routines, Lopez was perceived by many fans earlier on as a perfect delegate for the Miss Grand International pageant. And when she was fielded by Palawan’s local director for Reina Filipinas, she confirmed that it was the global competition that she was looking forward to compete in.

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Diaz is one of the most recognizable transgender women in the country. She topped the third season of the wildly popular “Miss Q&A” competition in the noontime show “It’s Showtime,” dubbed “Queen of the Multibeks.”

She was also a perennial runner-up at the Miss International Queen Philippines pageant, until finally winning the national crown last year. This gave her the opportunity to represent the country at the Miss International Queen competition in Thailand, where she finished in the Top 6.

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Brooks is one of the most popular pageant queens in the country in recent years, but it was at the Southeast Asian Games where she first experienced carrying the country in the international arena.

The part-American national athlete from Iloilo dominated the local and regional athletics meets, and the Palarong Pambansa, before catching the eye of national coaches who recruited her to join the Philippine squad.

Brooks ventured into modeling before taking the leap to pageantry. She dominated the 2024 Miss Iloilo pageant where she took home the lion’s share of awards and the most coveted crown.

The pageant’s organizers later appointed her to represent Iloilo City on the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines stage, where she earned a Top 10 spot. She was eventually crowned as The Miss Philippines-Eco International under the national pageant’s sister brand The Miss Philippines.

Brooks enjoyed an almost year-long preparation period for her first global pageant, and flew to Egypt for the 2025 Miss Eco International pageant, where she became the third Filipino woman to bring home the crown. She released her own clothing line Alta after relinquishing her crown in May.

Both Brooks and Diaz will take part in the second edition of MGI All Stars, a competition for international pageant veterans, that will be held in Thailand in December.

Lopez will be flying to India for the 2026 Miss Grand International pageant in October, and try to score a third consecutive win for the Philippines.