The beauty pageant season is here, ushered in by Miss Philippines Earth 2023 with the presentation of its 29 candidates to the press on Monday, April 3, 2023.
The highlight of the event held at the Lime Hotel in Pasay was the press voting for the "Darlings of the Press" awardees.
They were Yllana "Yana" Marie Aduana of Siniloan, Laguna, Nicolle Lagera of Fil-Comm California, and Lasil Relevo of Balayan, Batangas, who took home the gold, silver, and bronze awards, respectively.
The new Miss Philippines Earth will be crowned at the grand finals in Toledo City, Cebu, on April 29, 2023.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACIES
Previously, on March 19, 2023, PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) had interviewed Yana and Lasil with three other Miss Philippines Earth 2023 aspirants—Cea De Jesus, Naoimi Henave, and Kerri Reilly—during the opening of Morph Aesthetics' newest branch at Il Terrazzo in Quezon City.
During the interview, they spoke about promoting about environmental preservation and protection in line with the pageant's objective.
Yana joined the pageant for the second time with the aim of inspiring others to take better care of the environment.
The 24-year-old licensed medical laboratory scientist and certified drug analyst spearheaded the E.A.R.T.H. Education program as part of her advocacy through her non-profit organization Edukasyon for Every Juan PH.
Yana told PEP.ph, "I'm joining for just the same reason of wanting to promote the environmental causes. And now, I am strengthening it with education...
"I'm very much excited to be able to, you know, strengthen this mission with education, be able to encourage people to live a zero waste in a sustainable lifestyle, just as what I was advocating way back in 2021.
"And, of course, to inspire people to take action in taking care of the planet."
For her part, Naoimi, the representative of Dasmariñas City, has been collaborating with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to manage food waste.
She said, "This is my very first national pageant outside my municipality and I advocate for risk quality management and sustainability.
"I am working with an organization in our city, which is Food CENRO, which advocates waste management. So I hope that I will be able to share this in the platform that we have at Miss Philippines Earth."
Cea, the representative of Taguig City, is promoting renewable energy through her passion project Project E.A.R.T.H., which stands for Environmental Awareness and Renewable Technology for Humanity.
Asked about her motivation for the program, Cea said, "The Philippines, actually, has committed to lower our carbon emissions by 70% by 2030, which is actually the biggest commitment than any other Southeast Asian country has.
"Currently, we're still far from achieving it. So I think renewable energy has a lot of things to put into play into that."
Cea also revealed she is an active member and "Special Action Friend" or SAF of Feeding Change Philippines.
This non-profit organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life in the Philippines by bringing people together to "feed change," according to its website.
Lasil has initiated environmental programs with a focus on biogas.
She told PEP.ph, "My advocacy is about biogas because I believe that we can all contribute by using this and this is this a biogas comes from waste food waste, or any farm animal waste, and I think it's really gonna help the environment."
"I just want to tell people that we should really promote and be sustainable in our lives, not just in our home, but also everywhere around us."
Lasil has been actively volunteering in TEN Foundations, a non-profit organization based in Batangas which aims to "empower women living in poverty in the Philippines," as stated on its website.
Kerri, the representative of Pangasinan, hopes to raise awareness about the endangered Narra tree species.
The 20-year-old model told PEP.ph, "My advocacy for this year is... I'm focusing on Narra trees and spreading their awareness that it's in danger.
"So I've been going to schools around Pangasinan teaching them how to love plants the way I love them."
MISS PHILIPPINES EARTH PREPARATIONS
As part of their pageant preparations, Cea, Kerri, Lasil, Naoimi, and Yllana received skin facials and beauty drips at Morph Aesthetics.
They said facial treatments help their skin breathe a bit from all the make-up they have to wear during the pageant.
Kerri explained, "I really like to have facial treatments. I wear a lot of makeup as a beauty queen. I really like to keep my skin nice and clean."
For her part, Naoimi recounted battling stress as a student and pageant candidate by having facials.
She said, "I really love to take care of my skin, especially as a student and a candidate, the stress and the tiredness that come with what we do is really hard.
"So, by maintaining our skin, as a representative, I really want to make sure that I show the best in front of everybody."
Meanwhile, Yana opted for the gluta-drip to give her skin an extra boost of brightening since they are always under the sun.
She said, "We're always exposed under the sun, we're always [attending] tree planting, waste cleanup drives. You know, I also want to experience a bit of relaxation and self-care.
Cea chose a multivitamin drip, underlining its importance to her.
She said, "I'm an athlete, I always do wall climbing and freediving. "I'm always outside, especially now in Miss Earth Philippines.
"We have so much activities, for the earth and for the pageant, so it's important for us to keep our immunities up so we can go ahead ang clean."
Meanwhile, Morph Aesthetics' owner Cristina Doble mentioned that their clinic's most popular treatments include fractional laser and mesolipo slimming.
She told PEP.ph. "Currently top three treatments are the beauty drips and fractional laser and also our slimming meso lipo treatment so mag su-summer so ang daming gusto mag pa-sexy humabol sa summer."
"We also offer the Oxyglow treatment facial siya, right after... mafi-feel niyo talaga yung glow and nourished skin."
READ MORE:
- Stunning national costumes of Miss Universe 2021 candidates
- Miss Universe 2022 judge Olivia Quido-Co to "look beyond the sash" in choosing the next titleholder
- Olivia Culpo pokes fun at her "low energy" prior to hosting Miss Universe anew
- Boy Abunda, tinanggihan ang offer maging show commentator sa Miss Universe 2022