The winners of the the Miss Philippines Earth 2016 beauty pageant Resorts Wear Competition were announced during a special presentation at the Pontefino Estates in Gulod Labac, Batangas City recently.
Winners of the special competition were Rachel Quinonez, of Lubang, Occidental Mindoro, Gold; Bellatrix Tan, of Zamboanga City, Silver; and Nina Shera Tagalog, of Palo, Leyte, Bronze.
Other winners were Imelda Schweighart, of Puerto Princesa City, Ms Pontefino Residences; and Krissandra Marie Abel, of Lobo, Batangas, Ms Pontefino Hotel.
Prizes of the winners were presented by Tommy Tantoco, Pontefino Chief Finance Officer; and Fely T. Ramos, Pontefino Senior Vice President for Operations.
Forty-six candidates are competing at the 16th edition of the Miss Philippines Earth beauty pageant. The grand coronation night will be held in Kawit, Cavite on June 11.
Reigning Miss Earth Angelia Ong, who hosted the event, has expressed hope to sit down with incoming President Rodrigo Duterte and discuss with him how the Miss Earth Foundation can help the government in caring for the environment.
“I would really want to tell him to prioritize our environment programs because all these efforts to save the earth will go to waste if we will not give importance to it,” said Ong, during an exclusive interview at the Pontefino Residences.
The Filipino-Chinese beauty queen also said that she has just arrived from Vietnam and the Reunion Island where she attended activities for the preservation of the environment.
Ong also said that there are invites from Mauritius, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the US where she will grace events on environmental awareness.
“I’m happy that a lot of people now are aware of climate change. Nakikita na nila talaga na ‘yung negative effect nito sa ating kalikasan and you cannot deny that it is happening. Tutoo pala ang climate change. Gone are the days na theory lamang s’ya because now it’s for real,” added Ong. (Robert R. Requintina)