+ A
A -
Nineteen year-old Justine Mae San Jose, known to her close friends and Filipino community members in Qatar as Jaya, has been officially declared one of the candidates in the prestigious Manila beauty pageant Mutya ng Pilipinas 2016.
The Doha resident will be taking part in the nationwide competition after winning in the regional event, Mutya ng Pilipinas Calabarzon, recently.
She will be competing with 29 ladies for the crown in the nationwide search culminating with a coronation night to be held on July 30.
Jaya is a former student of Philippine School Doha and one of the ambassadors of the community group HERO Qatar. She is a well-known model in Qatar having been part of different fashion events in the country including the annual fashion show at the Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, Qatar Foundation International Cultural Week, and Pakistan Fashion Show.
Talking about her experience in the regional competition, Jaya described her victory as an overwhelming moment for her."We've only had a couple of days to rehearse for the production number. We would stay up really late just to finish and polish everything. We were taught by one of the choreographers in the Kagandahang Flores team. I had experience in dancing and I'm used to performing on stage since I used to be a part of different dance groups during my high school and college days. So I didn't really have a hard time memorising the steps. During the main performance at the Coronation night, I just enjoyed everything," she told Qatar Tribune in an interview from Manila.
She is relishing the joy of chasing her dream of competing nationwide and is optimistic of her chance to bring home the crown.
Jaya's supporters and friends in Qatar, led by the Alliance of Filipino Journalists in Qatar (AFJQ) and HERO Qatar, have already started campaigning for her on social media.
