A GRADE 11 student was crowned this year’s MassKara Festival Queen of Bacolod City

Candidate no. 10 Ella Mercado bested nine other candidates during the pageant night held at the SMX Convention Center in Bacolod City Friday night.

Mercado, 17, is a Grade 11 student from Negros Occidental High School.

She was proclaimed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia as the new MassKara Festival Queen, the successor of 2017 MassKara Queen Fercy Lyn Almaiz.

Candidate no. 6 Jacqueline Almogen finished first runner-up while candidate no. 3 Shane Pia was second runner-up.

Almogen, 18, is a Grade 12 student from Domingo Lacson National High School taking Humanities and Social Sciences program while Pia, 20, is a cum laude graduate from Visayan Maritime Academy where she finished BS Business Administration in Financial Management and is now working as a customer service representative.

She likes creative writing and was the managing editor of her school’s publication.

The new MassKara Festival Queen also got several special awards such as Miss Congeniality, Best in Festival Costume, Best in Swimwear and Miss P.H. Care.

Pia also won special awards like the Modern Terno (Filipiniana), Miss Philippine Airlines, Miss Photogenic, and Miss 2GO.

The other candidates who also did their best during the pageant night include Claire Therese Porras, Heryn Wilcel Gatilao, Julia Bennett Divinagracia, Edelyn Roncales, Angelica Amayna, Claudette del Castillo and Chrisselle Rose Lambating.

This year's MassKara Festival Queen pageant was produced by Silver MassKara Festival Organization Inc. under the directorship of Rene Jun Ogapong with the assistance of Danjan Plazo and their team, all of Outdoor Media Services.

The new queen thanked everyone who made her new journey possible.