"There's always something deeper to a person, other than just their title."  IMAGE Courtesy of Zahra Saldua 

Meet Zahra Saldua, a former beauty queen who is now a first lieutenant of the Philippine Army Reserve Command. 

In 2013, Zahra was a second runner-up during the Miss World Philippines pageant. A few years later, she was also crowned Miss Air Philippines 2018. 

After working for the Philippine Army as an events host for four years, she decided to join the army. "The more that I got to know about their story, the more that it inspired me," she shares in a video interview with Summit Media.

Zahra shares that being a beauty queen isn't too different from being an army reservist. "When you're a beauty queen, you need to have an advocacy. You need to care and do public service. As a reservist, you are also expected to do public service and you need to care about your people." 

Watch the video below to see Zahra's full story!