Miss Intercontinental Karen Gallman: Marunong ako mag-Bisaya, PHL is my home

Filipino-Australian beauty queen Karen Gallman on Friday addressed criticism about her biracial background in an interview with Kara David for GMA News' News To Go. 

Karen won the first Miss Intercontinental crown for the Philippines, but amid the celebration, a number of people wondered why she didn't choose to represent Australia.

"For me kasi, I'm Filipina. Dito ako lumaki, I can speak Bisaya, Tagalog," she said, "It's my home, so I represented the Philippines."

During the introduction video in the finals night for Miss Intercontinental, Karen actually said "gwapa jud ko" in the segment where the candidates were translating "I am beautiful" in their local language.

 

 

 

 

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Jan 19, 2019 at 6:00am PST

Karen's family moved to Australia when she was 8, but moved back to the Philippines when she was 14 and stayed to pursue a career in modeling and acting.

Growing up in Bohol, Karen experienced the difficult route young school children must take in order to get to schools. "Naranasan ko na rin maglakad nang malayo to attend primary school," she told Kara.

Having gone through that firsthand, Karen made a decision to become a vocal advocate of compulsory education in the Philippines. 

"I would like to make a difference in a small way, I guess. Hopefully I can partner with the Department of Education after this media tour," she said. 

Karen believes that the government must make getting to schools easier for students and provide better training for teachers as well. 

As Miss Intercontinental, Karen has decided to be based here in the Philippines and travel occasionally to fulfill her duties as the titleholder. — AT, GMA News