MANILA - The Philippines’ entry for the Miss Universe beauty pageant has been disqualified after local organisers discovered she was born overseas and out of wedlock, a contest official said Wednesday.

Maria Venus Raj, 21, was set to represent her country in August and begin charity work after winning the Miss Philippines-Universe competition early this month.

But the journalism graduate was stripped of her title on Monday after the foundation that runs the local competition discovered she had been born in Qatar to an Indian man who was not married to her Filipina mother.

Her birth certificate stated she was born in the Philippines to married Filipinos.

“We found out about the inconsistencies after the coronation night,” Lilia Ambay, of Miss Philippines-Universe Charity Incorporated, told AFP.

She was stripped of her position not due to citizenship issues but because her birth certificate contained false information, Ambay said. A runner-up will replace Raj in the Miss Universe contest, Ambay added.

Miss Philippines is a highly prestigious title and winners often go on to lucrative modelling or showbiz careers.