Philippines leads Miss Earth 2017 with 3 gold, 2 silver medals

MANILA, Philippines — Miss Earth Philippines 2017 Karen Ibasco has won a gold medal for her Maria Clara-inspired national costume designed by Louis Pangilinan.

Ibasco shared of the good news on Wednesday in her Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Because of this win at the Asia Pacific National Costume category, Karen is now the leading candidate with the most medals in the competition, with a total of five medals —  three golds and two silvers.

Miss Vietnam comes second, with three gold and two bronze medals. 

 

Won gold for this exquisite national costume by Louis Pangilinan. #missphiliplinesearth #missearth #ME #beautyqueen #advocate #bethechange #empoweringwomen #empowerment #photoftheday #bestoftheday #environment #beautiesforacause #responsibility #awarenessinaction #ecowarrior #earthwarrior #teamphilippines #philippines #fashion #style #look #lookbook #friendshipgoals #pageant #ForThePhilippines

A post shared by Ms. Philippines Earth 2017 (@karenibasco) on

Oct 30, 2017 at 10:30pm PDT

#MissEarth2017 Asia Pacific National Costume winners:
Gold: Miss Philippines
Silver: Miss Thailand
Bronze: Miss Japan pic.twitter.com/ozeZuLTJwx

— Miss Earth (@MissEarth) October 31, 2017

Besides Best in National Costume for Asia Pacific, Karen also got gold medals for Darling of the Press and Group 2 Swimsuit Competition. In addition, she bagged silver medals for Resorts Wear Competition and Long Gown Competition.

The 26-year-old beauty from Manila is a medical physicist who graduated cum laude both from her bachelor and master’s degrees in Applied Physics major in Medical Physics from the University of Santo Tomas.

Prior to Miss Earth, she joined the Binibining Pilipinas 2016 pageant.

Ibasco will compete with 85 other contestants for the crown, which will be handed down by Miss Earth 2016 Katherine Espin of Ecuador during the finals night on November 4 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Since the pageant began in 2001, The Philippines has so far won thrice at Miss Earth: 2008 (Karla Henry), 2014 (Jamie Herrell) and 2015 (Angelia Ong).