Miss Universe Philippines Bea Millan-Windorski gave her take on the halfie controversy earlier this year and how proud she is to be part of two cultures. The Filipino-American beauty queen shared in an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN how she is not a half of any culture but rather twice of it.
Prior to representing the Philippines in the beauty pageant scene, Bea represented the USA in Miss Earth where she won Miss Earth Water.
READ: Bea Millan-Windorski wins Miss Universe Philippines 2026
As a daughter of a Filipino immigrant, Bea proudly shared how it shaped her world view and her passion for the advocacies that she represents.
“So while I was proud to represent the Filipino diasporic community, I'm now even more proud to represent my chosen home on the international stage, especially in the context of the Philippines facing so much when it comes to intensified natural disasters, when it comes to climate change,” she said.
The Miss Universe Philippines titleholder recalled a line from a book titled The Sympathizer, written by Viet Tanh Nguyen. She shared how it allowed her to see the term “halfie” in a different light–– giving more grace to the cultures that she belongs to.
“Viet Tan Nguyen said that halfies, you're not half of anything, but you're actually twice of everything,” she shared.
“I've had the opportunity to grow up abroad and learn how to be very outspoken because of my American education, because my parents really encouraged me to be civically minded and civically engaged. But I've always had a heart for the Filipino people. Growing up, I was especially interested in our culture and heritage,” she maintained.
READ: Bea Millan-Windorski wins Miss Universe Philippines 2026
Now representing the country on the global stage, Bea is hopeful that she can use her platform to inspire the future generation–– whether born and raised in the Philippines or elsewhere–– to be more confident.
“I feel like it's important that I let every young Filipino person know that your voice matters, that you deserve to have a better future, and that we also deserve to ask for more. For me, being Miss Universe Philippines is all about empowering the young people and building the kind of Philippines that we deserve,” she asserted.
As Bea heads on to Puerto Rico for the finals night of Miss Universe 2026, she admitted how excited she is to meet her pageant sisters who have various advocacies and stories to share to the world.
“So I'm really excited to learn lessons from my sister queens, to know about the important work that they're doing at home, and for it to kind of be an example to the universe of what happens when we realize that our similarities are far greater than our differences,” she ended.
Bea will compete in the upcoming finals of Miss Universe which is set to happen in Puerto Rico this November.