A video posted by Dayanara Torres (@dayanarapr) on Jan 24, 2017 at 2:25pm PST

MANILA – Dayanara Torres, who won Miss Universe in 1993, is more than happy to be back in the Philippines which she once considered her home.

“I love my years here. I was so young when I finished my pageant and I was so eager to do a lot of things. I was just so thankful and grateful that I was in the Philippines, a country which embraced me completely and opened their hearts, their arms, their homes. Just amazingly beautiful memories,” she said.

Now that she has returned, Torres said she is looking forward to playing her role in choosing the successor of Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

Miss Universe president Paula Shugart previously confirmed to ABS-CBN News that Torres will sit as a judge both in the preliminary competition and the coronation on January 30 in Manila.

“It’s great to be a judge. This is my third time actually being a judge. It’s fun. It’s definitely less nerve-wracking because you’re not the one standing on stage. You’re only judging. But hopefully, we’ll find the perfect girl for the job,” she said.

Asked what she is looking for in the next Miss Universe, Torres said: “Definitely self-confidence and to be an empowering woman. It is a beauty pageant, that is true, but it’s absolutely not the whole of it. You can be beautiful but somebody with a lot of confidence and powerful personality can win you over.”

Meanwhile, Torres shared that after her stint as a Miss Universe judge, she might stay in the Philippines longer.

On what she misses the most, Torres said: “I miss 'ASAP,' lumpia, sinigang na baboy. But working at 'ASAP, 'I learned so much.”

Torres visited the Philippines in 1994 to crown her successor in the international beauty contest. The country’s Miss Universe representative at the time was Charlene Gonzales, who finished in the Top 6.

She went on to become a celebrity in the country, starring in movies with Aga Muhlach and Cesar Montano, among others.

Torres is also one of the original hosts of the ABS-CBN variety show “ASAP” along with Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez and Ariel Rivera, and was once dubbed as the Philippines’ “Dancing Queen.”