Gray pays courtesy call on Sotto; asks support to empower youth

FILE: Senate President Vicente Tito Sotto III, together with Senators Nancy Binay and Gregorio Honasan, present a copy of Senate Resolution 140 to Catriona Gray, congratulating and commending her for winning the Miss Universe 2018 title in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray visited the Senate on Tuesday for a courtesy call to Senate President Vicente Sotto III.

Sotto was joined by Senators Nancy Binay and Gringo Honasan in welcoming the beauty queen.

Gray was bestowed with a Senate resolution congratulating and commending her for winning the prestigious title held in Bangkok, Thailand last December.

In a short speech, Sotto commended Gray for bringing “great honor, glory and recognition” to the Filipino people.

“Winning the most coveted Miss Universe brings great honor, glory and recognition to all Filipinos and it deserved nothing but a high-level of praise,” Sotto said.

Gray, in response, vowed to continue to “hold the Filipinos at a very high standard to an international audience” and champion her own advocacies, as she asked for continuous support in empowering young Filipinos to be able to give back to their communities.

In his resolution, Sotto cited Gray for besting 93 other candidates from different countries during the 67th Miss Universe Pageant held on December 17, 2018 at IMPACT Arena, Muang Thong Thani, Bangkok, Thailand.

He said Gray’s victory has placed the Philippines in the fourth spot in the list of countries that have the most number of Miss Universe title holders.

Gray is the fourth Filipina to win the crown next to Gloria Diaz (1969), Margarita Moran (1973) and Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (2015).