Katherine Espin of Ecuador is the new Miss Earth (INQUIRER PHOTO).
KATHERINE Espín of Ecuador was crowned Miss Earth 2016 during the pageant’s grand coronation held at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City last Saturday, October 29.
Katherine succeeded Filipina beauty Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong.
The Philippines’ bet Imelda Schweighart failed to make it past the first cut, while Sweden’s Cloie Syquia Skarne, half-sister of actress and television host KC Concepcion, made it to the top 8.
Imelda, who had been controversial prior to the pageant due to her Hitler remarks in reference to President Duterte, was gunning for an unprecedented third straight win for Miss Earth crown for the Philippines after Angelia and 2014 titleholder Jamie Herrell.
This is the second time Ecuador has won the Manila-based pageant.
During the question-and-answer portion of the pageant, Katherine, along with the other ladies who made it to the top 4, were asked about their plans and programs to protect the planet from climate change.
“I truly believe in the 5 Rs, which is rethink, reduce, re-use, recycle and respect. Because I believe that as human beings, if we apply that to our everyday lives, we can make a change and we will reduce the problem that we have just mentioned. If we apply that to our everyday lives, I believe that we as humans can save the place we live in, which is our Mother Earth,” she said.
Katherine is a model and cosmetologist, who aims to forward her advocacy in reaching out to the youth to instill importance of taking care of the environment.
The newly crowned Miss Earth 2016 has a full house Latina beauties as her court including Colombia’s Michelle Gomezis as Miss Earth-Air (first runner-up), Venezuela’s Stephanie De Zorzi as Miss Earth-Water (second runner-up) and Brazil’s Bruna Zanardo as Miss Earth-Fire (third runner-up).
