Her journey to the crown has not been easy but she conquered everything with grace and elegance that winning the fourth runner-up place is already an honour to her country. Miss Philippines Ariella Arida is the fourth most beautiful woman in the universe.

Ariella Arida, Miss Philippines 2013, competes in her evening gown during the preliminary competition at Crocus City Hall in Moscow

The 24 year-old beauty queen started her journey to the Nexus crown when she won the Binibining Pilipinas pageant and has the opportunity to represent her country to the most prestigious beauty pageant in the world. But before her she could represent Philippines in Russia, Arida has to undergo gruelling months of training to bring out the best in her.

Thanks to her unparalleled dedication, she managed to reinvent herself as she made her way to Moscow and compete for the crown against 85 delegates from across the globe. While in Moscow, Arida never fails to wow the judges and pageant's sponsors that she landed all the VIP events including the prestigious Tony Ward Couture Fashion Show where she displayed her catwalk skills.

But critics and detractors never left Arida's side even if she's doing well in Moscow, her "Latina" comment made headlines in countless websites but in the end that do good with Ariella than bad for it somehow increased her popularity. She was the only Asian in the Mercedes-Benz TV commercial and she outshined everyone during the pageant preliminary round where she strut her bikini body and elegant yellow gown.

After her exceptional performance in the preliminary round, Arida is predicted by many netizens to be one of the candidates to be included in the Top 5 and with the growing popularity of Arida the prediction is not far from happening. The November 9 Coronation Night finally arrived and she was the last contestants to be in included in Top 16 as the fans favourite.

Because of that, many of her detractors grabbed the opportunity to cook another criticism that the Top 16 spot was only a consolation price for the Philippines' bet because of typhoon Haiyan tragedy. But Arida never let those who are against her take the best of her and use it instead to fuel her passion to win.

After the Top 15, she was the second candidate to get included in the Top 10 and that proves everything that Arida deserves the spot and not just a consolation. When her name was announced in the Top 5 the whole Crocus City Hall roared in anticipation as the 5 contestants answered their individual questions.

The Coronation Night ended when Miss Venezuela Gabriela Isler was crowned as the 62nd Miss Universe and Ariella Arida was hailed as the Miss Universe 2013 fourth runner-up. She did not get the crown but for the rest of the Filipino people who are suffering from Haiyan's wrath it is good enough to bring hope to the grieving nation.