MELODY GERSBACH | Bb. Pilipinas International 2009
(November 18, 1985 – August 21, 2010)
Born in Daraga, Albay to a German father (Wolfgang Gersbach) and a Filipina mother (Marina Manuel) and raised in Angeles City, Pampanga, Gersbach was the second of three siblings. She was a management graduate of the University of Asia and the Pacific and had been managing a family German restaurant business in Bicol.
Melody, then aged 23, was crowned Binibining Pilipinas International 2009 on March 7, 2009. She was the second Bicolana beauty to hold a Binibining Pilipinas International title, the other one being the fellow Albayanon Georgina Anne de la Paz Sandico in 1999. Gersbach represented the Philippines in the 49th Miss International 2009 pageant on November 2009 in Macau, China, where she placed among the Top 15 Semi-Finalists.
Melody died in a car accident around 11 a.m. on August 21, 2010, when the Toyota Innova she was traveling in collided head-on with a Raymond passenger bus in Barangay Pawili in Bula, Camarines Sur.