Newly crowned Miss Earth slams critics
PHILIPPINES - Newly crowned Miss Earth Karen Ibasco is well aware that you can’t please everyone.
When she won the title for the Philippines on November 5, a number of critics online questioned the results and accused her of having an unfair advantage as the delegate of the host country. In an interview on “Tonight With Boy Abunda” on Friday, Ibasco maintained that she beat the other candidates fair and square. “Those people who were really trying to say that she’s not deserving ...maybe they would want to watch the pageant again,” she said. “Because the contest was fair. That’s what I really want to say.” Ibasco also explained that her intense training paid off when it mattered most, making it look like that she had a prepared answer for the Q&A portion of the pageant. The Philippines’ Karen Ibasco, a 26-year-old licensed physicist and university instructor from Manila, won the Miss Earth 2017 pageant to the cheers of a hometown crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.The crown was passed on to her by outgoing queen Katherine Espin from Ecuador. Other winners in the pageant were Australia’s Nina Robertson as Miss Earth Air 2017; Russia’s Lada Akimova, Miss Earth Fire 2017; and Colombia’s Juliana Franco, Miss Earth Water 2017. Ibasco, who studied applied physics and medical physics at the University of Santo Tomas, impressed both the judges and the audience with her reply during the question and answer segment of the pageant. The Philippines reportedly scored victories in two separate beauty contests less than 24 hours apart and posted strong finishes in other global pageants. Karen Ibasco bagged the Philippines’ fourth Miss Earth crown in ceremonies at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and over in Bolivia, Teresita Ssen Winwyn Marquez was proclaimed Reina Hispanoamericana. Before their coronations, two other Filipino queens posted podium finishes in contests abroad.
In Albania, Binibining Pilipinas Nelda Ibe finished second to Vietnam’s Do Tran Khanh in the 2017 Miss Globe pageant. In Malaysia, Sammie Anne Legaspi also placed second to Siberia’s Diana Krasnova for the 2017 Miss Lumiere International World crown. And recently, Binibining Pilipinas Elizabeth Clenci finished third in the 2017 Miss Grand International pageant in Vietnam. (inquirer)