Miss International 2015 Edymar Martinez, 21, of Venezuela passed her crowned to Kylie Versoza, 24, of the Philippines at the Tokyo Dome City Hall in Japan on Oct. 27, Thursday. The latter is the sixth Filipino and the 56th beauty queen to win the title.
Before the Miss International 2016 beauty pageant, Versoza met Rodrigo Duterte in Japan. The President of the Philippines was on an official trip in Japan at the time.
Versoza beat 64 other candidates from different countries. The other winners were first runner-up Alexandra Britton from Australia, second runner-up Felicia Hwang from Indonesia, third runner-up Brianny Chamorro from Nicaragua and fourth runner-up Kaityrana Leinbach from the United States.
Aside from being second runner-up, Hwang also won the Best Dresser award. Miss Nicaragua Brianny Chamorro and Miss Moldova Alina Chirciu won the Best National Costume and Miss Perfect Body awards, respectively.
The continental queens were Miss Sierra Leone Maseray Swarray, Miss Ecuador Ivanna Abad, Miss Hong Kong Kelly Chan, Miss Netherlands, Melissa Scherpen and Miss Hawaii Guinevere Davenport. They are Miss International Africa, Miss International America, Miss International Asia, Miss International Europe and Miss International Oceania, respectively.
Before winning Miss International 2016, Versoza did ramp and print modelling. She stands 5'9" and is a member of the Professional Models Association of the Philippines.
With a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Versoza worked as a pre-school teacher and a depresson and suicide awareness advocate. She was born in Baguio City on Feb. 7, 1992.
At the age of 23, Versoza joined Binibining Pilipinas in the Philippines in 2015 but only made it to the top 15. She won during her second try and was selected to represent her country in the 56th Miss International pageant.
The first five Miss International winners were Gemma Teresa Cruz in 1964, Aurora Pijuan in 1970, Melanie Marquez in 1979, Precious Lara Quigaman in 2005 and Bea Santiago in 2013. Get to know more about Versoza here: