MANILA -- Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz shared her thoughts on Miss Spain Angela Ponce's inclusion in this year's roster of beauty queens in the Miss Universe.

"Actually, na-insecure ako. I went to the bathroom to put powder kasi ang ganda-ganda rin niya," Diaz told DZMM Teleradyo Monday.

She also said she saw nothing wrong in letting Ponce, a transgender woman, represent Spain in the pageant.

"You know, I used to think that. But I've been always thinking to myself, if I have a daughter, if I have a son, na maganda, and she's capable, and she has the qualifications, I'll really feel bad if she cannot join Miss Universe," Diaz said.

"You know, you just have to go with the times and be modern. Ang ganda talaga niya," she added.

For Diaz, beauty pageants and sports competitions are different, and transgender women should be allowed in beauty pageants for women because the criteria is mainly beauty and physical attributes.

"In sports kasi, talagang men are very strong. We're talking about strength, right? Kasi kung kalaban mo lalaki, medyo talagang kuwan... Pero sa ganda, the transgenders, some of them are really very, very, more beautiful than real women," she said.

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Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran, on the other hand, believes transgenders should not be allowed to join pageants for women, since they have their own beauty pageants.

"I admire Miss Universe for highlighting her entry but to me personally, there's already a pageant for transgenders and I do not agree that transgenders should join a beauty pageant of women because, simply because, my take on it is that there's science involved in this," she told ANC, also on Monday.

"She's well, fixed, she's been transformed into a woman and that already gives undue advantage to transgenders because they could be more beautiful than the other contestants," Moran added.

Ponce, the first transgender woman to compete at Miss Universe, got a standing ovation at the finals here even as she failed to crack the semifinals.

Ponce emerged from the X-shaped runway in a short dress while a giant screen showed her journey to one of the world's biggest beauty pageants.

• WATCH: Miss Spain gets standing ovation at Miss Universe

A month prior to the pageant, Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray had referred precisely to what Ponce represents, in voicing out her support for the inclusion of transgender candidates in Miss Universe.

• Catriona stood up for Miss Spain amid controversy over transgender inclusion in Miss Universe