Imelda Schweighart is coming back to pageantry and will be taking part in the 2026 edition of the Miss Universe Philippines pageant after her recent appointment as the representative of Kalibo, Aklan.
Many were surprised when she personally appeared and joined in the celebration of the 25th Miss Philippines Earth pageant in August even though she abdicated her throne in 2016.
Schweighart received her official title as 2026 Miss Universe Philippines-Kalibo, Aklan on Tuesday evening, Oct. 14, right in the province’s capital and largest town.
Many pageant fans remember her as being one of the only few Filipino delegates who failed to advance to the semifinal round of the Manila-based Miss Earth pageant.
When she missed the cut at the 2016 Miss Earth pageant, Schweighart was filmed outside the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, speaking to her fans and throwing tirades against other delegates.
Carousel Productions later announced that she had stepped down as Miss Philippines Earth. Schweighart also dropped a bombshell declaration afterwards, admitting that she was pregnant.
But this is not the first time for her to seek a spot in the Miss Universe pageant. She joined the 50th Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 2013 when the national search still held the Miss Universe franchise for the Philippines.
She ended in the Top 15, with Laguna lass Ariella Arida claiming the crown that would bring her to the Miss Universe pageant in Russia. Arida finished as third runner-up in the global tilt.
A decade since her participation in the Bb. Pilipinas pageant, Schweighart tried to represent her father’s country and signed up for the Miss Universe Germany competition. She, however, did not earn a placement.
She flew back to the Philippines in 2024 to take part in the Century Tuna Superbods search. There, she received the ‘Supermom’ special award, but pageant veteran Justine Felizarta topped the female division.
Giselle Quimpo, the Miss Universe Philippines pageant’s local director for Kalibo, Aklan, appointed Schweighart, who represented Puerto Princesa in her 2016 Miss Philippines Earth and 2013 Bb. Pilipinas outings.
Since 2024, the Miss Universe Philippines organization has been strictly implementing their local directorship program, skipping any general screening and only accepting participants fielded by local directors.
The local directors have the option of conducting their own pageant in their respective town, city, province, or overseas community, or appointing a delegate.
Schweighart is not the first Miss Philippines Earth titleholder to join the Miss Universe Philippines pageant, with a precedence set by 2018 Miss Philippines Earth Celeste Cortesi who was crowned Miss Universe Philippines in 2022. /edv