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Due to inconsistencies in her birth certificate, Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Maria Venus Raj was recently stripped of her crown and title barely a month into her reign, reports GMANews.TV.
Raj, hailed as Bb. Pilipinas-Universe last March 7, will be replaced by Bb. Pilipinas runner-up Helen Nicolette Henson, who will go on to represent the country in the Miss Universe Pageant.
Meanwhile, PEP.ph got in touch with Jenny Inocencio-Marcia of the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) who revealed, "Both Venus and her mother said she was born in Doha, Qatar, while [the legal documents they submitted attest that] she was born in the Philippines."
PEP.ph goes on to list other beauty queens who got dethroned due to citizenship issues as well: Anjanette Abayari (Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, 1991), Tisha Silang (Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, 1998), and Janelle Bautista (Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, 1999). Abayari and Bautista grew up in the US, while Silang was born in Canada.