Bea Millan-Windorski Crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2026

MANILA, Philippines – Bea Millan-Windorski of La Union was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2026 on May 2, after competing against 50 other contestants. She succeeded Ahtisa Manalo of Quezon Province, who placed third runner-up in the previous global Miss Universe event.

Millan-Windorski, born on August 15, 2002, in the United States, has maternal roots in San Juan, La Union, through her grandparents Alfredo and Marcela Millan. Her family later moved to Nueva Vizcaya before immigrating to the United States.

In the United States, Millan-Windorski grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and earned double degrees in International Studies and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a focus on Southeast Asian Studies. She completed a thesis on Filipinos in the US Navy and learned the Filipino language during her studies.

Millan-Windorski received a fellowship with the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in the United States and interned at the East-West Center in Washington, DC, where she studied US-ASEAN relations. She also participated in performing arts, including high school varsity dance, ballet at the Milwaukee Ballet School, cello, and jazz at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

Millan-Windorski began competing in pageants during high school, including winning Miss Milwaukee Area Outstanding Teen 2020 and competing in Miss Wisconsin’s Outstanding Teen 2021. In 2024, she won the Miss Earth USA title and represented the United States in the Miss Earth competition in the Philippines, where she earned the Miss Earth-Water title.

During her Miss Earth-Water reign, Millan-Windorski stayed in the Philippines, volunteered with groups such as Project Curma for sea turtle conservation in La Union, and participated in the Trillion Peso March in November 2025 to address environmental and social issues.

She later decided to settle in the Philippines to pursue law studies.

During the Miss Universe Philippines question-and-answer segment, finalists addressed frustrations with the country and reasons to represent it globally.

“I often had to point where the Philippines was on a map to my peers, and I always felt a sense of belonging and home," Millan-Windorski said. "I chose to pack my life into balikbayan boxes and suitcases because I believe in the limitless potential of the Filipino people and the fact that we need to create local opportunities here so that people don’t have to go abroad and be separated from their families in order to survive and thrive. If I were given the title of Miss Universe Philippines, I promise to be a public servant for all." Millan-Windorski aims to compete in the global Miss Universe pageant, seeking a fifth title for the Philippines after those won by Catriona Gray in 2018, Pia Wurtzbach in 2015, Margarita Moran in 1973, and Gloria Diaz in 1969. She described her decision to join the competition as a continuation of her personal journey.”