(Photo from Miss Earth’s official Facebook page)
MANILA – Winning for second year in a row and marking a first in the pageant’s history, the Philippines again took home the Miss Earth crown as the country’s Angelia Gabrena Ong won in this year’s tilt.
The coronation night was held over the weekend at the Marx Halle in Vienna, Austria.
Thiessa Sickert of Brazil was named Miss Earth Fire; Brittany Payne of USA was Miss Earth Water; and Dayanna Grageda of Australia was Miss Earth Air. Rounding up the Top 8 finalists were delegates from Austria, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela.
Ong succeeded Filipina beauty queen Jamie Herrel who took home last year’s Miss Earth crown, six years after Karla Henry won the Miss Earth title in 2008.
“The crown deserves to go to the Philippines again. I have the right mind and spirit and I’m ready to face the challenges that come with the crown. I believe I’m the right person to inspire and educate people on how they can help preserve and protect the environment,” Ong said in an interview with Inquirer.net.
Prior to winning the coveted crown, the 25-year-old Philippine delegate expressed interest in participating at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris as she wanted to continue her advocacy of caring for the environment.
“I chose to continue the advocacy I started when I was just a candidate for Miss Philippines Earth. These were restoration, reforestation, minimizing carbon footprints and taking 5R (rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, respect) by heart which brings me to a campaign I call #wewillbecausewecan,” she said in her Miss Earth profile page.
“This campaign aims to inspire and educate people on how they can contribute in helping the environment in their own little ways and even through social media… Getting the campaigns online is a strategy to get the message out there and create more awareness,” she added.
“Awareness or identifying the problem is the first step in solving the problem… We have to educate people about the threats of Climate Change because it is only through an educated society can true reform be achieved.”
Ong received recognition from the Malacañang Palace as she brought honor to the country.
“Congratulations and best wishes to her,” Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over government radio dzRB.
“This is again a proof of the beauty, intelligence and excellence of Filipinas in international competitions which are held to strengthen the country’s friendship and cooperation with other countries,” he said in Tagalog.
The Philippines now has the most number of winners in the annual advocacy-driven beauty pageant, followed by Brazil and Venezuela each winning two titles.