Philippines wins back-to-back Miss Earth titles

MANILA, Philippines - Filipina beauty queen Angelica Ong was crowned as the 2015 Miss Earth yesterday in Vienna, Austria, the third Filipina to win the title in the pageant’s 15 years.

Ong’s victory also marks the first time in the history of Miss Earth pageant that a country, the Philippines, won in two consecutive years.

She succeeded Jamie Herrell who bagged the crown in 2014, six years after Karla Henry’s victory in 2008.

The 24-year-old Ong bested more than 80 candidates, including Brazil’s Thiessa Sickert who was named Miss Earth Fire, the United States’ Brittany Payne who bagged the Miss Earth Water title, and Australia’s Dayanna Gradega, Miss Earth Air.

In her profile page for Miss Earth, Ong said she would continue her advocacy of caring for the environment, which she started when she was a candidate for Miss Philippines Earth.

“These were restoration, reforestation, minimizing carbon footprints and taking 5R (Rethink, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, Respect) by heart which brings me to a campaign I call #WEWILLBECAUSEWECAN. This campaign aims to inspire and educate people on how they can contribute in helping the environment in their own little ways and even through social media,” she said.

“Getting the campaigns online is a strategy to get the message out there and create more awareness. Awareness or identifying the problem is the first step in solving the problem.

“We have to educate people about the threats of Climate Change because it is only through an educated society can true reform be achieved,” she added.

Ong, who is taking marketing management at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in Manila, earlier said that she hopes to win so she could join in the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. It started on Nov. 30 and will end on Dec. 11.

Malacañang congratulated Ong for winning the Miss Earth title and for bringing more honor to the country.

“Congratulations and best wishes to her,” Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said over state-run dzRB.

“This is again a proof of the beauty, intelligence and excellence of Filipinas in international competitions, which are held to strengthen the country’s friendship and cooperation with other countries,” he said in Filipino. – With Delon Porcalla