During last Friday’s pre-judging and finals of Miss Kaogma 2018 at Villa del Rey in CWC and the Freedom Sports Complex in Pili, Camarines Sur, one candidate really wowed all the judges the minute she presented herself. She is only 17 years old, stands 5’8” and has Filipino-Indian ethnicity. Her name is Rheema Alfonso Adakkoden, the newly-crowned successor of Julia Gonowon and is also the recipient of the title of Miss Millenial Camarines Sur.

Truth be told, the strong front-runners – like former Binibinis Sigrid Grace Flores and Angelie Aubrey Asuncion – had to play catch-up with the dusky beauty from start to finish and had to settle with being named Miss Kaogma Tourism and 1st Runner-Up, respectively.

In a year or two from now, you will definitely see Rheema joining the national pageants. And with more training and polish, she will definitely be one of the new Darlings in pageantry in time.

Let me take this opportunity to thank Camsur Governor Migz Villafuerte and Miss Universe Philippines 2017 Rachel Peters for the invite and the super warm accommodation at CWC. Looking forward to the 2019 edition!