A CEBUANA bested 84 other contestants in this year’s Miss Earth pageant held at the Casino Filipino in the Clark Expo Ampitheater in Pampanga last Sunday.

Aside from being crowned Miss Earth, Karla Henry, 21, also bagged the Miss Photogenic title. She will be leading the pageant’s advocacy for the environment.

Karla won the judges’ approval by highlighting the need for today’s youth to be educated on the global environment during the question-and-answer portion.

The question was, “If you had the chance to speak the newly-elected US president Barack Obama about the state of our global environment, what will you tell him?”

Karla said she would encourage him “to implement environmental knowledge in the curriculum of all schools, whether in the US or in the Philippines.”

She said, “Environmental knowledge is something all of us must share. But most importantly, we must teach the youth for it’s something we should instill in them so that in the near future they will be the ones to take care of our mother earth. I firmly believe in the saying that the children are our future.”

Miss Cebu

Henry, a Filipino-Canadian, is not new to beauty pageants. In 2006, she joined the Miss Cebu pageant where she placed as 2nd runner-up.

She gained more attention when she joined the Binibining Pilipinas last March. Although considered as a heavy favorite in that pageant, she was unplaced in the finals.

The show was hosted by international singer Billy Crawford, together with Riza Santos, who represented Canada in the 2006 edition Ms Earth and Priscilla Meirelles
Almeda, Ms Earth 2004 winner who represented Brazil.

Inquirer.net reported that Henry is the first Filipino and Asian woman to win in the Philippine-based pageant. (From the wires)

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