MANILA - The country's bet, Clint Karkliñs Peralta, a half-Pinoy model from Naga City, finished first runner-up in the international Man of the World 2018 pageant held in San Juan City Friday.

Peralta, whose mother is Polish-Latvian, fell short of the title, losing to Vietnam's Xuan Tai in a pool of 26 contestants.

When asked about why he deserved the Man of the World title during the final Q&A round, Peralta said he had "integrity," "compassion," and "commitment" that he could use to inspire change within people and "empower society."

Tai, who had to sincerely apologize beforehand for his bad English, answered by sharing that he possesses a genuine love for his country, and that he wants to share it with the rest of the world.

The others in the top five were Malta's Bjorn Camilleri (2nd runner-up), Czech Republic's Ondrej Valenta (3rd runner-up), and Thailand's Natapol Srisarn (4th runner-up).

After the pageant, Peralta told his fans on Instagram: "Everything felt surreal. I am still overwhelmed with all your love and support. I couldn’t make it this far without you guys by my side."

A post shared by Clint Karkliñs (@clintoris7) on Jul 14, 2018 at 10:49pm PDT

The two-hour long pageant focused on promoting its theme of "Masculinity with a responsibility."

Tai won a crown that signified these aspects, and featured five torches that symbolized passion and knowledge, according to a report from pageant website Missosology.

Man of the World pageant was produced by Prime Event Productions Philippines Foundation Inc.