French-Filipino Gwendolyne Bolivar Fourniol was crowned Miss World Philippines 2022 during the live coronation night held at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City that ended early Monday morning.
The 21-year-old Fourniol, who grew up in France and is currently pursuing an Economics degree at Oxford Brooks in the United Kingdom, also bagged the Best in Evening Gown and Miss Silka special awards.
Fourniol, who was a Top 15 finalist in last year’s edition, was crowned by Tracy Maureen Perez.
Fourniol, who uses her platform to support the Educational Research and Development Assistance or ERDA Foundation that provides free education to underprivileged Filipino children, hopes to put up a French tutorial service in the Philippines.
Her mother, Sim Bolivar, a native of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, finished college through ERDA and worked as a housemaid in Luxembourg where she met Fourniol’s French father, Thierry.
During the question and answer portion, she was asked about coping with the education deficit caused by the pandemic.
“As an advocate of education, I do agree that during the pandemic, we have suffered the most but the children who have the lack of access to education have suffered the greatest,” Fourniol said.
“Working hand in hand with ERDA Foundation who empowered the marginalized Filipinos, I believe by uniting benefactors and encouraging our children and allowing them to go back to school especially during this pandemic will make this world a better place because education is the greatest weapon against poverty,” she added.
Named Miss Supranational Philippines 2022 was Alison Black, a professional ballerina and Business graduate at University of the Philippines. She was also named Best in Swimsuit.
Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2022 was Maria Ingrid Santamaria, a 25-year-old, corporate professional and cum laude graduate from De La Salle University.
Ashley Subijano Montenegro, a 22-year-old model who was a heavy favorite to take the top title, was named Miss Eco Philippines 2022.
Justine Beatrice Felizarta and Beatriz McLelland were named Miss World Philippines Tourism 2022 and Miss Eco Teen Philippines 2022, respectively, while Cassandra Chan was named Miss World Philippines Charity 2022 (2nd Princess).