How MJ Lastimosa would have answered Miss Universe final question

When the Philippines' Mary Jean Lastimosa fell short of making the final five of the Miss Universe pageant, she was robbed of the opportunity to answer the final question.

 

For the first time, the competition's final question was sourced from comments on the Miss Universe Facebook page. Among thousands of submission, a question from user Maria Navarro Fernandez was posed to each of the final five candidates: "What is the greatest contribution of your country to the entire world?"

 

In an interview on "Unang Hirit" on Tuesday, MJ revealed how she would have answered the question.

 

 

"Actually yung gusto ko talagang isagot diyan, ano... We taught the world the spirit of volunteerism. Kasi ang dami nating pinagdaanan na typhoons. Because of that, na-witness natin yung every nations are helping, helping hand in hand para ma-survive natin yung catastrophe na pinagdaanan natin and with that, we've seen na different cultures, differnt nations are helping each other. So yung volunteerism talagang, kung ginagawa natin lagi ito sa lahat ng bansa na may pinagdaraanan, walang mahirap," she said.

 

"Gusto ko talaga...maybe, tell the world how to help each other and you know, be one. For once in our life, let's be one. so, yun. I think that's the biggest contribution ng bansa natin. It may not be any material - alam mo yun, na hindi naman tayo ganun kalaking bansa and very powerful, but I think the spirit of volunteerism is really big." 

 

MJ expressed sadness that she never had the opportunity to answer the question.

 

"Sobrang sad talaga. Sobrang sad. Kasi...excited na ko eh, sabi ko 'I would love to nail the question and answer'. And lalo na ngayon iba na yung format nila, dalawang question and answer na. Excited ako kasi nagkaroon ako ng chance na mag-answer ng mga questions from Facebook nung nag-live chat kami. Ang sasaya, sobrang kakaiba yung mga tanong ng mga tao, kaya linolook forward ko yun," she said. 

 

"But we have to be positive about it kasi di lang naman ang korona yung aim mo sa pageant. Maraming nakukuha, marami tayong natututunan sa mga beauty pageant. And the inspiration that you give to people." — Jessica Bartolome/JST, GMA News