As part of her duties as the reigning Miss World Philippines, Valerie said she is also happy to be able to attend her personal advocacies. “It's so exciting. Right now I'm supporting the indigenous brothers and sisters in Tarlac, the Aeta community. It's my personal advocacy even before I decided to join Miss World. Because I met a lot of indigenous communities in Zambales and Subic and I got very curious about them. Because they were selling their local products in those areas, the tourist spots. We would talk about where they come from and that's how I got really interested in supporting them,” she said.
With the Philippines having won last year’s Miss World, Valerie admitted she knows the pressure to produce a back-to-back win for the country. “There is always pressure in everything you do, especially if it comes to a contest but without pressure there wouldn't be any excitement right? So that's how I see it. And at the same time the challenge that I have to face during the situation that I am in now, it's a great challenge. It's a challenge that I want to take and that I want to pursue so I will give my best and be the best that I can be. And I also want to tell everyone to also join me in this journey and see how everything goes and to also support me,” she admitted.
After her homecoming in the province of Albay, Valerie said it was an unforgettably warm welcome from her mom’s hometown. “My mom is in Germany right now so she couldn't be there during coronation night. She's just so happy to see that all her kababayans are happy also about me winning and me coming home really, it's an amazing feeling. I didn't expect that even though it was raining in Albay, everyone came out of their houses and they would stop working just to see me, just to say thank you and ako naman I'm just happy to see everyone and to feel that they really appreciate that I won the crown and it's amazing to see on how much hospitality there is in Albay especially,” she admitted.
Even from her father’s country, Valerie said she is also happy for the support, with some German websites reporting the news of her win. “I'm happy about it. I'm really flattered and happy about all the comments that I'm getting form my German side. Of course, since half-Filipino naman ako and half-German, I'm really happy about it because I had the chance also to grow up in Frankfurt, Germany. To get two countries at the same time, the east and the west,” she said.
Even now that she is a full-fledged beauty queen, Valerie said she will still be a simple girl at heart and that includes indulging in the food she loves every once in a while. The 24-year-old host-actress revealed that her favorite comfort food is pizza. “I love pizza (laughs). I even tried the laing pizza in Albay, I'm telling you it's so good!” she shared.