Haiti, who has Filipino roots, is Miss Universe first runner-up

MANILA, Philippines — Miss Philippines Maxine Medina might have not made it in the top three, but the Philippines has another bet that has made it.

The first runner-up, Miss Haiti Raquel Pelissier, actually has Filipino blood in her mother's side.

In an interview with Philstar.com, Pelissier said she is sad her mom could not make it with her in the pageant. "But I feel the whole stadium is happy for me, so I'm so happy to be here," she noted.

Of the places she visited in the Philippines, she said she enjoyed Cebu and Baguio the most because they have different flavors. "Philippines offers so many beautiful landscapes!" she declared.

Raquel Pelissier, Miss Universe Haiti 2016 is announced as a top 13 finalist during the 65th Miss Universe telecast on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. MUO/Tom Starkweather

Seven years ago, Raquel and her family survived the seven-magnitude earthquake that killed around 300,000 people and displaced around 900,000 more.

"About seven years ago, I survived the earthquake and feel I was failing myself because I was not living my dream. I was living day by day before that earthquake. It was a very bad event, but I chose to be a strong person. If I'm here today, it's because I'm living my dream," she said as answer to the final question: "What's something over the course of your life that you failed at and tell us what you learned from that experience?"

“The greatest lesson I learned from that is that I have to cherish my family because it has put me on a state that I valued the simplest things in life, not the superficial things. I value that I’m alive, I have a family, I have a shelter. I feel protected, I feel loved. So, it made me value the things the eyes can’t see. And it also made me see that life is really fragile. It can end tomorrow. It can end now. So, what matters is you live your life the way you want to live it. If you have something you care about, if there is a cause you want to defend, you have to stand for what you want in life!" she told Philstar.com in an interview for advocacy group Smile Train earlier this month.

As first runner-up, Raquel could replace Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere of France if the latter could not fulfill her duties.