HILARY HOSIA
Billma Peter became the most popular 22-year old bachelorette in the Marshall Islands following her ascension to the crown as the first Miss Marshall Islands last Saturday at the International Conference Center.
President Hilda Heine did the historic crowning in what looked like a completely transformed ICC with a stage equipped with modern day fashion gear: lights, sound equipment, the whole nine yards.
Billma was one of 24 contestants in the event, with each representing different islands.
Before she was Miss Marshall Islands, Peter was Miss Mejit.
Once she was nominated to represent Mejit, Billma had little help from the local government, which was tasked to prepare her for the weeklong competition — then the Momotaro clan joined her support team, namely power couple Minister Dennis Momotaro and wife Senator Daisy Alik-Momotaro and Ramona Levy-Strauss.
Peter walked away with several awards in addition to her new title as Miss Marshall Islands.
Peter has a bachelor of science in health and administration and is currently working on her master’s in health administration at the University of Arizona.
Since the pageant kicked off last Sunday, thousands of followers began flooding the National Telecommunications Authority’s Facebook page, making the NTA page the most visited site over the week. The number of live viewers reached a record high of 2,500 during the main event last Saturday.
Read more about this in the July 19, 2019 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.