Although the Miss Universe 2013 competition is weeks away, a handful of the contestants have already developed buzz, including Miss Philippines Ariella Arida. However, she's not the only Filipino beauty competing for the crown this year.
Arida is on a winning streak of Top 5 placements after Venus Raj won the fifth place finish in Miss Universe 2010, reports the International Business Times. She was also crowned by Miss Universe 2012 first runner up Janine Tugonon back in April.
However, not only will Arida be competing with 59 other contestants from around the world on Nov. 9, but she will face off with two other beauty queens with a Filipino background.
According to the Miss Universe website, Miss Canada Riza Santos was born in Alberta and calls Calgary her home. However, the 25-year-old actress is a pure Filipina. Her father, Ruel Santos, hails from Bulacan and her mother, Dina Buenaventura, is from Bataan. She's also became a household name in the Philippines as a "Pinoy Big Brother" housemate, and has won other titles like the country's Miss Earth in 2006, and Miss World in 2011.
In addition, Miss Gabon's Ruth Jennifer Ondo Mouchita is also of Filipino descent. She is reportedly half-Filipina and can speak Tagalog fluently. She was crowned in Dec. 2012 as Miss Gabon a comparatively a newcomer to the Miss Universe pageant as the African country of Gabon.
In 2011, three Filipina beauties competed in the same contest: Philippines Gwendoline Ruais completed first runner-up in the Miss World pageant, Santos was in the Top 30 and Denmark's Maya Olesen, (also a half-Filipina) competed in the same contest.
Miss Universe will be held on Nov. 9 in Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia and air on NBC and Telemundo.