Miss Universe Philippines Ahtisa Manalo (third from right) with (from left) Winwyn Marquez, Chelsea Fernandez, Katrina Llegado, Gabbi Carballo and Yllana Aduana/ARMIN P. ADINA
The three new queens under the Miss Universe Philippines pageant’s sister brand The Miss Philippines have great things planned for their yearlong reign aside from representing the country in international competitions.
The Miss Philippines-Supranational Katrina Llegado, The Miss Philippines-Eco International Gabriella Mai Carballo, and The Miss Philippines-Cosmo Chelsea Fernandez shared this at their victory press conference held at Citadines Millennium Ortigas in Pasig City on Tuesday afternoon, May 6.
They were joined by newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines Ahtisa Manalo and runners-up Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez and Yllana Marie Aduana at the event.
INQUIRER.net asked the new titleholders of The Miss Philippines how they intend to use their respective crowns, and they gleefully shared what future they hope to see for their reigns.
Llegado, a woman empowerment advocate, hopes to continue supporting Project Pearls, one of the partner organizations of the Miss Universe Philippines pagent. “I’ll be going back to Tondo and visit the nanays (mothers). And hopefully continue to support their advocacies and have projects with them that really sustain their families,” said the entrepreneur from Taguig City.
For Carballo, her national title is already in line with the organization she established in 2019 called “The Green Wave Cebu,” which recycles bar soaps from the biggest resorts in the province. “We have remolding workshops and distribute our new bar soaps all around Cebu,” she said.
“Being on this higher platform now, it’s really gonna allow me to share [about my organization] more, not for the sake of having my org be more well known, but really just to be able to reach a further amount of people, hopefully not just in Cebu but in the whole Philippines,” she added.
Fernandez, for her part, plans to further advance her call for mangrove reforestation. “Knowing that Miss Cosmo has a lot of causes, I am really excited to be part of that,” she said.
Part of her homecoming activities planned for her in the province of Sultan Kudarat was mangrove planting, with the help of the provincial government.
Fernandez is the first of the newly crowned The Miss Philippines queens to compete abroad. She will represent the country in the second edition of Miss Cosmo in Vietnam later this year.
Llegado and Carballo will compete in the Miss Supranational and Miss Eco International pageants, respectively, next year. /ra