The Filipina beauty queen was aiming to secure the country’s third crown.
On Saturday, February 22 (Manila time), Beatriz Mclelland of the Philippines participated in the Reina Hispanoamericana 2026 pageant in Bolivia.
She joined 27 other delegates who came from the Hispanosphere from Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
Mclleland was able to meet the first cut, where the list of 28 was trimmed to the Top 13. However, the candidate was unable to move past that and ended her journey there.
Eventually, then-reigning Filipina winner, Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 Dia Mate, passed the crown to Kimberly de Boer from Curaçao, while Marta Isabel Otero was named Virreina Hispanoamericana 2026 (vice queen).
Meanwhile, the court of beauty was composed of 1st runner-up Criselys Garcia of the Dominican Republic, 2nd runner-up Melissa Payro of Mexico, 3rd runner-up Tiffany Gonzalez of Puerto Rico, 4th runner-up Camila Chacon of Peru, 5th runner-up Emely Barlie of Venezuela, and rounded by Luz Gonzalez of Nicaragua, who ended as the 6th runner-up.
Prior to Mate, actress Winwyn Marquez was the first Filipina winner of the pageant when she took home the crown back in 2016.