‘A world without the pandemic or without corruption?’: Trending Q&A topics at the Miss World PH 2021

Netizens expressed their admiration for this year’s Miss World Philippines candidates who bravely took on questions, with sass and style, about politics and other pressing issues surrounding the country today. 

When Candidate #10 Michelle Arceo was asked “Would you rather live in a world without the pandemic or without corruption?” she gave a straightforward response. “I would pick a world without corruption because we are surrounded by it every day, everywhere we look,” she began. 

“People every day suffer from it, and if we can eradicate that, we can solve so many problems and we can get through a pandemic easily the next time we go about it,” continued Arceo. 

A netizen called it “the main highlight of this pageant.” 

"Harry Roque, Bong Revilla, and other corrupt politicians are shaking," wrote a Twitter user.

Another one came up with memes as he tweeted about the trending Q&A portion. 

Arceo ended up winning the crown for Miss Environment Philippines 2021. 

For his part, Roque asked Candidate #6 Shaila Rebortera: “The frontrunner in all surveys for the polls for president is a woman. If she were to ask you ‘Should she run for president even if her children are very young?’, what advice would you give her?” 

"In modern times right now, a woman is strong and brave in different ways. Other women are strong and brave because they sacrifice their careers for their families. If our candidate would like to pursue becoming a president despite sacrificing time for their family in exchange of serving the Filipino people, then I would definitely support that,” declared Rebortera. 

Sharing a video of her answer, a netizen wrote on Twitter: “You nailed the Q&A Doc Shaila. Proud of you.” 

A Twitter user particularly loved “how brave Miss World #6 is to answer Harry Roque’s cryptic question.” 

Rebortera was named Miss Multinational Philippines at the pageant. 

This year’s Miss World Philippines pageant took place on Oct. 3. Aside from Arceo and Rebortera, other awardees were Tracy Maureen Perez (Miss World Philippines 2021), Kathleen Paton (Miss Eco Philippines), Tatyana Austria (Miss Eco Teen Philippines), Emmanuelle Vera (Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas), Trisha Martinez (Miss Tourism Philippines), Michelle Arceo (Miss Environment Philippines), and Dindi Pajares (Miss Supranational Philippines).