During the coronation night held at the Mall of Asia Arena last November 4, our very own Karen Ibasco was crowned Miss Earth 2017. She succeeded last year’s winner, Katherine Espin, from Ecuador. A true environmentalist, her advocacy is energy conservation and sustainability. Rappler curates some interesting facts about our new Earth Ambassador.
Let’s get to know her a little better.
Karen is the 4th Filipina to win the Miss Earth pageant. The first one was Karla Henry (2008), followed by Jamie Herrell (2014) and Angelia Ong (2015). The Philippines currently holds the most number of crowns from this competition.
Karen previously tried her luck with Binibining Pilipinas. Before Miss Philippines Earth, she joined Binibining Pilipinas in 2016. This was the same year when Maxine Medina and Kylie Versoza became Miss Universe Philippines and Bb Pilipinas International. In 2015, she was the 1st runner-up in Ms. Shape PH.
Karen is a physics major. No wonder she understands the value of sustainable energy.
“As a physicist, I understand the importance of daily consumption of energy, that is why my environmental advocacy is the conservation of energy and to embrace renewable and sustainable sources of energy in exchange for fossil fuel, which contributes to a huge percentage in global warming.”
Karen wants to give hosting a shot. While titleholders usually end up in show business, she says that she has no plans to dive in full time, at the moment.
“No, I don’t have plans to do showbiz but I would want to enter the world of hosting.”
Karen believes that social media should be used wisely. Social media is a relevant channel that can be used for social good. During her win as Miss Philippines Earth, she verbalized that she wants to use it wisely.
“To maximize and utilize social media to really show the people in simple way, every single day, you can make a difference. I would want to post more about the environment and also be informed about environmental lectures going around the world about what’s really happening, and to share to people my journey,” she said.
