Forty-six beautiful Filipinas who have a passion or have started advocating for a healthy planet have been selected as official candidates of Miss Philippines Earth 2016, the only pageant that focuses on the preservation and protection of Mother Earth.
Oblivious to the summer heat, the lovely girls paraded in swimsuits at the poolside of Diamond Hotel on Monday afternoon and members of the press chose three head turners as the Darling of the Press, namely, Liza Cacho, a 23-year-old, executive secretary from Anda, Pangasinan (Gold medal); Imelda Bautista Schweighart, a 21-year-old, Theater Arts student at Meridian International and former Bb. Pilipinas Miss Photogenic from Puerto Princesa City (Silver), and Kiara Giel Gregorio, a 19-year-old, student in Law, English Literature and Business at Greensward Academy in London (Bronze).
Also chosen as the 10 finalists for the Miss Hana Shampoo special title were Schweighart, Gregorio, Loren Mar Artajos, 25, Nursing student of DMMSU from Laoag City; Maria Fatima Al-Sowyed, 21, Bachelor of Arts in English student of Dumaguete City; Anna Mae Cagurangan, 23, Legal Management graduate of Piat, Cagayan; Shannon Rebecca Bridgman, 24, of Rosales, Pangasinan; Melanie Mader, 24, Doctors assistant at Anshen Center in Vienna, Austria; Ellyz Santos, 23, BS Pharmacy graduate of Centro Escolar University from Laoang, Samar; Korina Christiene Reyes, 22, Business Management graduate of UP Diliman of San Fernando City, and Jessica Madeline Zevenbergen, 19, college student of Murcia, Negros Occidental.
Fulfilling their advocacy to help fight climate change through the 5R’s; Re-think, Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and Respect, this year’s candidates have started their community eco-activities. “A special “Earth Warrior” award will be given to the candidate with the most outstanding eco campaign, and another award for the municipality which exerts outstanding effort in combating climate change,” Lorraine Schuck, EVP of Carousel Productions.
Reigning Miss Earth Angelia Ong successfully completed the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training under recent visitor US Vice President Al Gore, founder and chairman of the Climate Change Reality Project signifying the Miss Earth organization’s continuing pursuance of effective platform to create environmental awareness on climate change.
To highlight the relevance of this year’s Miss Philippines Earth pageant, the coronation night is set on June 12 at the historical Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite in conjunction with the celebration of Philippine Independence Day. The winner of Miss Philippines Earth 2016 will have the chance to aim for an unprecedented three-feat victory at the annual Miss Earth pageant after the Philippines’ rare back-to-back win with Jamie Herrell and Angelia Ong in 2014 and 2015. The finals will be telecast on ABS CBN at 10 p.m., and on The Filipino Channel (TFC) with live streaming by Rappler.
