In her interview with BBC News' Mishal Husain, Bela reiterated that the picture has no intention of discriminating any race.
The GMA-7 talent said, "I don't really have any idea that I would get such negative reaction.
"But I was proud with the cover we did because racism was totally out of our heads.
"So I didn't expect that we'd get negative feedback from it because we had no intention of discriminating anyone anyway."
Bela's interview was broadcast live last night, February 28, on BBC's Impact.
Here is an excerpt of that interview:
Mishal: "When you saw that picture of you and the black model behind you and 'stepping out of the shadows,' it didn't ring any alarm bells to you?
Bela: "Honestly, I saw the picture before I saw the layout page with the caption. So I was as shocked as everyone when I saw the caption.
"But if the people get to read the article there, then you would understand why FHM chose that caption."
Mishal: "Did you think when you, first of all, saw this, you were surrounded by black models, was there nothing in that thing that makes you think or gave you clues on how would this might end up?"
Bela: "You have to understand that we took the shot because it's my coming of age here in the Philippines.
"I'm an actress here and we're trying to change my image from the younger bracket to an older one.