1 Karen Gallman, 19, 5’5 1/2”Karen was born and raised in Ubay, Bohol and proud of having “Bisaya” as her first language. It is her first time to join a beauty pageant but has always had a fascination for pageants even as a child. She desires to be a beauty queen convinced that by being so, she can work for the betterment of society. Karen is a certified “beach chick” who loves the water. She migrated to Australia when she was eight and returned to Manila when she turned fifteen. Karen also loves playing netball and touch football.

2 Romelin Roxane de Castro, 20, 5’5”This lady is Taguig City’s pride. Currently a 4th year Mass Communications student at St. Paul University Manila, she dreams of being an actress and in fact took up Mass Comm as a step towards her dream. She believes that she is a good leader and is also into martial arts like judo and karate ever since she was thirteen. She also took up swimming and her idol is a swimmer too – Enchong Dee.

3 Nicole Marable, 17, 5’6”Nicole hails from Quezon City. Although she speaks with an accent influenced by her Australian buddies, she considers herself as pure Pinoy. It is her first time to join a national beauty pageant upon the prodding of family and friends. She is interested in history and philosophy because these open her eyes to the world. She says that she joined the pageant to be an inspiration to her fellow teenagers, share with them her experiences and the values she learned, especially appreciating life and valuing inner beauty.

4 Jaine Hidalgo, 25, 5’6 1/2”This lady from Naga City, Camarines Sur is a registered nurse, a product of the Unibersidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City. She is very sports-minded and loves extreme sports such as wakeboarding. She is also into badminton, table tennis and swimming. She even swam with the whale sharks in Donsol! Her pageant experience includes Ms. Kaogma Festival 2012, Miss Bikolandia 2010, Miss May-Ylaud Festival 2010.

5 Rose Ann Aguilar, 24, 5’6”It is the second time for this Caviteña to join a pageant, the first one being in 2010. After that 2010 stint, she trained harder and feels more ready for the competition this year. The loves to cook especially Italian food and plays basketball and is passionate about cars. She had a harrowing experience three years ago as a kidnap victim which taught her to appreciate the more important things in life.

6 Maria Alicia Elena Ariosa, 24, 5’5”This girl who hails from Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur is a registered nurse and a “lady farmer.” Her family is into agri business such as prawn farming, rice and rubber plantations. She helps out in the family farm where she says that it is “the opposite of what I like because it is hard work and bawal ang maging maarte.” She sees the competition as a win-win situation, an opportunity to gain friends, reach your maximum potential and learn new things. She plays the piano, makes necklaces and bracelets and reads a lot of fashion magazines.

7 Patricia Lae Ejercitado, 23, 5’6”Patricia comes from Cainta, Rizal and is a practicing interior designer. She graduated from BS Interior Design from the University of Santo Tomas and got her license in 2011. She has done designs for restaurants, and residences. It is her second time to join the pageant after her first try in 2010. She has tried to polish her catwalk skills, make up, personality development and reviewed previous pageants to prep her for this year. She is also into painting and the visual arts, usually painting religious images to give to her friends and family.

8 Nicole Schmitz, 23, 5’7”Representing Cebu City, Nicole will soon be the holder of two degrees – Law and Psychology, in Australia. She is set to graduate from Law by the end of 2012 and graduated in Psychology with honors. She is a keen traveler and plans to climb the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. She also loves extreme sports, white water rafting, hand gliding and dances the salsa. Her dad is German and her mom is from Cebu. It is her second time to join the pageant, the first time being in 2007 when she was just 18. Joining the Bb. Pilipinas has always been top of her mind because she feels that she has a lot to offer to the pageant.

9 Mary Jean Lastimosa, 24, 5’7”This Davaoeña knows how to play the violin and has spent some time in North Cotabato where she personally witnessed people getting killed and bombs exploding everywhere. The experiences have taught her to be a strong, brave, independent and resilient woman. MJ landed the 2nd runner up spot in last year’s Binibining Pilipinas Pageant. Her pageant experience also includes the Aliwan Festival Queen 2008 and Mutya ng Davao 2008.

10 Jillean Camille Orbina, 20, 5’8”Jillean is from Cordon, Isabela and is currently studying Communication Arts at the Philippine Women’s University. She placed 2nd runner up in the Mutya ng Taguig 2011. She grew up with her grandparents and describes herself as an observant book lover who is also very versatile.

11 Marie Virgenia Cecilie Peter, 21, 5’7”Marie was born in Kalibo, Aklan but her family moved to Norway when she was just seven years old. Her mom was the one who told her about Bb. Pilipinas and she has always wanted to be a model and a beauty queen. She views joining the contest as an “experience I will bring for the rest of my life.” She describes herself as being very Pinay even if her features look foreign. She is fluent in Aklanon and is grateful that she never forgot this dialect because she believes that language is part of her heritage. She is also fluent in English, Filipino, Norwegian and German. As a leader of a youth organization in Norway, she has traveled to schools, engaged in debates, attended conferences and seminars, the last being the Climate Change Conference in Denmark.

12 Ayelee Marie Dasalla, 21, 5’7”Ayelee hails from Mariveles, Bataan and is the older of two siblings. She has a 19 year old brother. She is the real “biggest loser” since she used to weigh 200 lbs as a high school student. During her “super obese” phase, she endured being called “baboy”, “matabang bata” wherever she went. She decided to lose weight for health reasons since her family has a history of diabetes. She also had asthma as a child. When she was heavy, she thought that joining a beauty pageant was an impossible dream. As a nurse, she lost weight the healthy way through diet and exercise. Since her family owns a motorcycle spare parts shop, she is skilled at changing flat tires, oil and motorcycle maintenance. She joined Ms. Bataan in 2011. She is also into target shooting and chess.

13 Katrina Jayne Dimaranan, 18, 5’8”Katrina was born in San Juan, Metro Manila and just recently graduated from high school. She wants to take up Psychology in college because she believes she can relate to different kinds of people because of her life experiences. Because of her family’s situation, she has attended 13 schools and has learned to be independent. She was also homeless for a while even to the point of sleeping in a terminal bathroom with her siblings. She loves to sing and has exposure to choirs, events and musicals. Despite her challenging experiences, Katrina maintains a positive outlook in life. She joined the pageant to be an inspiration to people and that despite all odds “all will turn out all right”.

14 Gina Joy Howell, 20, 5’9”Gina is a Kapampangan who studied BS Computer Science at the Angeles University Foundation. She describes herself as a “Jill of all Trades” because she sings, dances, plays the guitar, plays volleyball and is into visual arts. She also loves trekking, camping and going to the beach.

15 Elaine Kay Moll, 20, 5’10”Elaine hails from Catarman, Northern Samar. She is a 3rd year Business Management student from National University. She was a member of the Lady Bulldogs, her college women’s basketball team. She also plays volleyball and is a part-time model. She recently competed in the Asia Model Awards in Korea just in January 2012. Her Binibini idols include Miriam Quiambao, Venus Raj and Shamcey Supsup because they gave honor to the country.