Ifugao Region’s Valerie West, a 22-year-old emergency medical technician from New York, is making waves in the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 competition.
West, who was crowned Reina Filipina North America on Jan. 25, arrived in the Philippines weeks later to compete for a chance to represent the country in the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand later this year. And despite her quick entry into the competition, she is showing pageant fans that she’s no stranger to pageantry.In 2017, she earned the title of Miss York County’s Outstanding Teen and placed in the top five of Miss Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Teen. That was her first pageant.
The COVID-19 pandemic put her pageant career on hold, during which she completed a biomedical engineering degree at the University of Delaware. She plans to pursue a medical degree with the goal of specializing in pediatric cardiology but has chosen to resume pageantry after winning the Reina Filipina North America title.
“As a Filipino raised by a Filipino mom, love for pageantry was instilled in me from a young age. As I got older, I saw these queens as more than just graceful women; they became role models,” West said, adding that her mother, originally from Kiangan, Ifugao, inspired her to pursue beauty pageants.“When you see women empowering each other and emphasizing strong family values, it’s hard not to be inspired. Even abroad, we carry those values with us.
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