Marla Alforque
SHE may not have won the crown but Cebu City’s Marla Alforque remains grateful for the chance to represent the city in the Miss Earth Philippines 2018 pageant held Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
“I would like to say thank you to all the Cebuanos out there who supported me on my journey in MEP 2018 most especially to my Kagandahang Flores (KF) Cebu family, the Alforque clan, all the Carcaranons, and to all my LGBTQ friends. I couldn’t be more thankful to all of you guys,” she said.
The model-turned-beauty made it to the top 10 and also won two golds during the pre-pageant activities, including the Resorts Wear Competition during the “Trash to Class” contest.
In 2017, Alforque—who was the lead dancer of Carcar City—won as Sinulog Festival Queen and the lead dancer of Carcar City. She was crowned as Reyna ng Aliwan of the same year.
She said she learned a lot from joining Miss Earth Philippines pageant.
“To be true to yourself, to enjoy every little thing that you have in life, to learn to accept and respect the differences that we have with my co-candidates,” she said.
She said she also learned to always think before making any decisions in life.
“Especially when taking into consideration the impact that it may bring to yourself, to the people that surround you, to the community and to the environment as well,” she added.
Now the pageant is over, Alforque plans to pursue her Masters Degree in Education and her course in dressmaking with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
She is also not closing her doors to joining more national pageants in the future.
Silvia Celeste Cortesi, a 20-year-old model who represented the Filipino community in Rome, Italy won the Miss Earth Philippines 2018 crown.
Her court includes Miss Philippines Air Zahra Bianca Saldua (Las Piñas City), Miss Philippines Water Berjayneth Chee (Balingasag, Misamis Oriental), Miss Philippines Fire Jean de Jesus (San Rafael, Bulacan), and Miss Eco-tourism Halimatu Yushawu (Titay, Zamboanga Sibugay).
