Those who made it to the Top 16 are the following:
1. Puerto Rico – Ashley Carino
2. Haiti – Mideline Phelizor
3. Australia – Monique Riley
4. Dominican Republic – Andreina Martinez
5. Laos – Payengxa Lor
6. South Africa – Ndavi Nokeri
7. Portugal – Telma Madeira
8. Canada – Amelia Tu
9. Peru – Alessia Rovegno Cayo
10. Trinidad and Tobago – Tya Jane Ramey
11. India – Divita Rai
12. Venezuela – Amanda Dudamel Newmen
13. Spain – Alicia Faubel
14. Curacao – Gabriela Dos Santos
15. USA- R’bonney Gabriel
16. Colombia – Maria Fernanda Aristzabal
Many personalities were in disbelief that Celeste finished her Miss Universe bid.
“Ha?” television host and actress Vice Ganda tweeted.
“Bawi tayo sa replay mamayang gabi! Hayuffff!” she added in separate tweet.
“Oh no!!” Miss Universe 1st runner-up Janine Tugonon wrote with broken heart emoji.
“I can’t believe our streak ended with (in my opinion) one of our strongest candidates to date. It really is a new era for Miss Universe,” Miss Universe Philippines 2021 candidate and content creator Ayn Bernos said.
Despite the defeat, many Filipinos also congratulated Celeste for representing the country.
“Congrats still Celeste! Thank you for representing us!” a social media user said.
“Padayon at maghuway Celeste! We are so proud of you!” a Twitter user said.
“Still proud Celeste . You did your best. Thank you,” an online user wrote.
El Tocuyo
Meanwhile, “El tocuyo” trended on Philippine Twitter as Celeste ends her journey.
The El Tocuyo Awards started in 2016 with Mariam Habach of Venezuela’s non-placement at the 65th Miss Universe pageant held in Manila.
El Tocuyo is the name of her hometown and from then on, frontrunners in the pageant who did not make the first cut were called El Tocuyo awardees.
The award follows the rationale of recognizing what for an entrant was her best performance but was perceived as mediocre by a judging panel.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article included … in the Top 16 finalists. This has been corrected to reflect the correct breakdown of Miss Universe 2022 Top 16.
