After a dry spell for an entire de­cade—with nary a single semi-finals placement—Filipinos were hopeful in 2010 that Maria Venus Raj could break “the curse” hounding Filipina candidates in the Miss Universe Pageant for so long.

But Raj almost did not make it to the pageant at one point—she was in danger of being stripped off her Binibining Pilipinas-Universe title due to questionable entries in her birth record. Government eventually intervened to allow the Fil-Indian beauty with a 22-inch waistline to proceed to Nevada, USA where she competed with 82 other girls from around the world.

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