The 2016 Miss Universe pageant is drawing ever closer, and the nation is cheering on Miss Philippines Maxine Medina, hoping for a back-to-back win after Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach’s memorable 2015 win.

Medina is the latest representative for a country that has gotten used to performing spectacularly at one of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageants.
Since 2010, the Philippines has placed in the top five of the competition, only failing to do so in 2014. The next year, however, saw the country with the crown after a 42-year drought.
As we look forward to the upcoming pageant, let’s take a look back at the past four representatives that have made it to the top five and the places in the Philippines where they came from.

Hometown: Bato, Camarines Sur

Venus Raj’s journey to a fourth runner-up win in the 2010 Miss Universe pageant was tumultuous, to say the least.After winning the Binibining Pilipinas crown in March 2010, she was dethroned a few weeks after because of questions about her Filipino citizenship.By the next month, Raj was given the crown for “humanitarian reasons”, and she then went on to Las Vegas to compete for the Miss Universe crown.Raj was born in Bato, Camarines Sur, a third class rural municipality of 52,137 people, according to a 2015 census.Bato is replete with white sand beaches, caves, falls, and springs.The Bato Parish Church is a century-old church that shouldn’t be missed by any visitors to the town.Meanwhile, Lake Bato is also home to the Sinarapan, the world’s smallest commercially harvested fish.

Hometown: Iligan, Lanao del Norte

Known for her “tsunami walk”, Supsup-Lee ended up third runner-up in the 2011 Miss Universe pageant.Even before gaining fame as a pageant contestant, Supsup-Lee was already an academic superstar, graduating valedictorian in grade school, salutatorian in high school, and magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines Diliman, where she earned her architecture degree.While Supsup-Lee grew up in General Santos City, she was actually born in Iligan, Lanao del Norte.Known as the “City of Majestic Waterfalls”, Iligan is home to 24 of them, the most famous of which being the Maria Cristina Falls, which is the primary source of electric power of the city.

Hometown: Orion, Bataan

Before Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach’s 2015 win, Janine Tugonon was the closest the country had ever been to the crown since Miriam Quiambao’s first runner-up finish in 1999. Tugonon was the only Asian to place in the top five during the 2012 Miss Universe pageant, and eventually finished first runner-up.She went on to pursue a modeling career in the United States, with her most prominent work being part of a commercial for Victoria’s Secret Pink, the fashion brand’s line for college women.Her birthplace of Orion in Bataan is best known for the Saint Michael the Archangel Parish Church, a 19th-century church located in Barangay San Vicente.Aside from Tugonon, another prominent Filipino born in Orion, Bataan was Francisco Baltazar, known by his nom-de-plume Francisco Balagtas. Balagtas wrote the epic Florante at Laura, considered his defining work.

Hometown: Alaminos, Laguna

Just like Janine Tugonon before her, Ariella Arida was the only Asian in the 2013 Miss Universe top five. Arida had graduated from the University of the Philippines Los Banos with a degree in chemistry, and had previously competed in the Binibining Laguna and Miss Philippines Earth beauty pageants.She eventually went on to finish as the third runner-up in the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. While Arida’s hometown of Alaminos, Laguna doesn’t have any distinctive tourist spots, it’s neighboring city of San Pablo is the location of the famous Seven Lakes --Lake Sampaloc (or Sampalok), Lake Palakpakin, Lake Bunot, Lakes Pandin and Yambo, Lake Muhikap, and Lake Calibato.

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