Miss Universe Philippines 2011 Shamcey Supsup wears a swimsuit during a presentation show at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo
Miss Universe Philippines 2011 Shamcey Supsup wears a swimsuit during a presentation show at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo September 8, 2011. The contestants are in Sao Paulo for the 2011 Miss Universe pageant which will be held on September 12. Reuters

Shamcey Supsup, Miss Philippines in 2011, finished 4th at the Miss Universe contest in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

4th Place

The contest crowned the winner Monday night, with Miss Angola finishing first, Miss Ukraine finishing second, Miss Brazil finishing third, and Miss China finishing fifth.

Supsup, age 25, is a licensed architect who hails from General Santos City, Philippines.

Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc, the organization that runs the Philippines national beauty pageant, issued the following statement after Supsup's 4th place finish:

The Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. would like to send its heartfelt congratulations to Ms. Shamcey Supsup who placed third runner up in the recently concluded Miss Universe 2011 pageant. Her dazzling performance and excellent answer, besting more than 80 of the world's loveliest women, clearly showed the innate beauty and intelligence of the Filipina. Indeed, Shamcey's remarkable finish is a source of honor for Filipinos the world over.

It took a lot of courage answering without an interpreter...well done. :) You make us all Filipino proud ^_^, wrote a commenter on the Shamcey Supsup Facebook page.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Halata naman every Filipino is already proud of you!!! You don't need a crown!!! =D, wrote another.

The Controversy

Ms. Supsup should have won the crown... complained one commenter.

Ms. Philippines should have won, wrote a commenter on NBC's Facebook page.

Twitter, too, is abuzz with comments that Supsup should have won the title instead of Miss Angola.

Congrats to Shamcey Supsup. You should have won. :) tweeted one user.

Before Monday's official results, Supsup led in online polls.

Meanwhile, Philippines Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago wants to contest the results.

She thinks politics might have prevented Supsup from winning the contest because the judges wanted a non-Asian winner.

Sometimes you can't discount these possibilities, said Santiago.