Michelle Dee’s father touched by pageant fans’ love and support for daughter
MANILA, Philippines — Michelle Dee’s father, Derek Dee, is grateful for the outpouring of love his daughter received following her Top 10 finish at the Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador on Sunday.
The former actor and film producer expressed his gratitude to “all the Filipinos who supported her,” telling The STAR via online messages, “I really felt their love for her and our country. They came out and paid for her votes from their hard-earned money and really showed their love for her.
“I am touched with their support and love for her. Thank you for the love and support,” he further said.
The 28-year-old Miss Universe Philippines and Kapuso actress is Derek’s daughter with former Miss International Melanie Marquez, who also flew to El Salvador to personally be there for Michelle.
The businessman couldn’t support Michelle in person due to his ongoing recovery from a car accident.
But the proud dad could attest to Michelle’s hard work before the competition: “She gave 100 percent in this competition. (She) worked hard to prepare, from the clothes to her walk.”
“And she was fully prepared for the Q&A portion. Every day in the car, she brought an instructor to coach her on the possible questions,” he stressed.
Sharing his message to his daughter, Derek said, “I have been in touch with her before and after (the pageant). Just wished her the best before the competition and after, I told her that God has bigger plans for her.”
“And in closing, I repeated a phrase her grandma, Regina Dee, used to say: I can’t wait to see the good that will come out of this,” he added.
Several organizations and companies offered their congratulations but one perhaps stood out, China Bank, for its familial connections to the Philippine bet.
According to Wilson Lee Flores, columnist for this paper and a relative of Michelle’s father, Michelle is the (paternal) granddaughter of the late China Banking Corporation chairman, philanthropist and Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) vice president Dee K. Chiong.
“I did not personally get to know Michelle Dee’s grandmother, but she was the daughter of a prominent leader from Shanghai (OK Yui), 1930s Shanghai City Mayor and 1958 Premiere of Chiang Kai Shek’s nationalist regime in Taiwan,” Flores said of the late Regina Dee, whose nonprofit group Inner Peace Foundation, which promotes spiritual enlightenment, is now being headed by Michelle.
Meanwhile, Michelle has been considered as one of the “most supported” candidates ever in this pageant-crazed country for pulling out all stops in her Miss Universe journey. Pageant fans praised the actress for her looks, social media savvy, and well-prepared performance from start to finish.
She captured the imagination of the pageant community from the moment she lit up the SM Mall of Asia Globe for the international pageant’s Hello Universe challenge, to the preliminaries where she chose to use Filipinas in her introduction (she studied Spanish right after winning Miss Universe Philippines, an ABS-CBN report said), to her edgy fashion. These included her Air Force reservist-inspired national costume, preliminary emerald green gown adorned with 400,000 Swarovski crystals, which was hailed by Harper’s Bazaar Arabia as one of the “10 Best Viral Moments from the Preliminary Round,” to her finals evening gown that paid homage to the legendary Kalinga tattoo artist Apo Whang Od.
Most importantly, she had a solid and genuine advocacy, with Autism awareness as its “centerpiece,” inspired by her two siblings in the autism spectrum.
For her advocacy, she became one of the Gold winners for the Voice for Change award and the Spirit of Carnival awardees by pageant sponsor Carnival Cruises. Michelle also won the Miss Universe’s fan vote.
What dismayed most Pinoy pageant fans after she failed to advance to the Top 5 was because she lost the opportunity to speak her mind and answer questions, considered one of her “strongest” suits.
And it wasn’t just Filipino fans who got disappointed with the results. Pulitzer Prize-winning US journalist Ronan Farrow posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Miss Philippines was robbed, shaking and crying.”
But for Michelle, she believes it wasn’t really her destiny. “Ultimately, I left it to destiny. Of course, it is not the result that we wanted. But I know as long as all of you are proud, as long as all of you saw the hard work and dedication that was made not just for myself but the whole team behind me as well, that’s enough for me. I hope you are all happy,” she was quoted in an ABS-CBN interview.
“Sayang hindi ako nakahawak ng mic, but if anything just know that I was training the whole year to make sure that if ever I had that moment, walang butas. But again, it is all about destiny.”
Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua succeeded Filipino-American R’Bonney Gabriel as she was crowned 2023 Miss Universe at the culmination of the annual beauty pageant. This year’s edition saw a mother, a plus-sized woman and transwomen among the contestants, reflecting recent changes in the rules of qualifications.
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