Karen Ibasco crowned Miss Earth 2017, 4th Filipina to win contest

A 26-year-old medical physicist from Manila has been crowned the 17th Miss Earth Saturday night at the Mall of Asia in the Philippines.

Image/Twitter

Miss Earth Philippines, Karen Ibasco was crowned by last year’s Miss Earth winner, Ecuador’s Katherine Espin, topping 84 other women.

Australia’s Nina Robertson won Miss Air, Russia’s Lada Akimova won Miss Fire while Colombia’s Juliana Franco was this year’s Miss Water.

During the question and answer section, Ibasco, who ranked #1 for “Intelligence and Environmental Awareness” was asked who or what she thinks is the biggest enemy of Mother Earth and why.

“I believe that the real problem in this world is not climate change. The real problem is us because of our ignorance and apathy. What we have to do is to start changing our ways, to start recalibrating our minds and redirecting our steps because together, as a global community, our micro-efforts will have a macro-effect to help save our home, our planet,” she answered.

Ibasco became the fourth Filipina to be crowned as Miss Earth since the pageant began in 2001. She followed the footsteps of Karla Henry (2008), Jamie Herrell (2014) and Angelia Ong (2015).

Related:

On the DISPATCH: Headlines Local Opinion

About the Author

The Dispatch - The generic Dispatch designation, used primarily for press releases or syndicated content, but may be used for guest author requesting a generic nomenclature