Maria Venus Bayonito Raj (born July 7, 1988) is one of the three reigning 2010 Binibining Pilipinas winners. She was crowned Binibining Pilipinas Universe on March 06, 2010 during the pageant's Grand Coronation Night at the Araneta Coliseum [1]. However, on March 29, 2010, Ms. Raj was dethroned by the pageant's organizers (BPCI) citing "inconsistencies" between her birth certificate and the personal account of her birth. Ms. Raj was briefly replaced by second runner-up Helen Nicolette Henson. Ms. Raj's sudden dethronement caused an uproar among her Filipino supporters in Bicol, Metro Manila, and other cities including pageant fans in other countries that she was encouraged to fight to reclaim her crown. Some conducted online petitions, signature campaigns, Facebook fan pages, blogs, demand letters to BPCI and some even went on up to writing the Miss Universe Organization. So much so that on April 10, 2010, after days of uproar by many pageant fans, the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) reversed their decision. Citing "humanitarian reasons" the BPCI allowed Ms. Raj to reclaim her title pending correction of the minor technicalities or clerical error contained on her birth record and her obtainment of a valid Philippine passport.[2] On May 19, 2010, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a Philippine passport to Ms. Raj.[3] The DFA stated that Ms. Raj is, indeed, a Philippine citizen by virtue of the jus sanguinis principle (“right of blood”), a basic right provided by the Philippine Constitution which bestows upon a person the citizenship of his father or mother regardless of where the person was born. Based on this constitutional principle, along with interviews and documents provided by Ms. Raj, the DFA's Citizenship Evaluation Committee decided to grant Ms. Raj a Philippine passport,[4] clearing the way for her reinstatement as the Philippines' official candidate to the Miss Universe 2010 pageant.
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