Reigning Miss FIT Philippines Yllana Marie Aduana/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — Show business is calling, but that would have to wait as Yllana Aduana decides to pursue her beauty pageant dreams as she rejoined the Miss Philippines Earth competition this year.
The erstwhile Miss FIT (Face, Intelligence, Tone) Philippines has just relinquished her title when she shared social media posts showing her at the GMA Network Center in Quezon City, teasing people of a possible future in show biz.
“I’ve been dipping my feet [in showbiz], because it’s also my passion to present myself in the entertainment industry, more than the pageantry,” she told the Inquirer at the sidelines of the press presentation of the 2023 Miss FIT Philippines pageant held at Palazzo Verde in Las Piñas City on Jan. 26.
Aduana said she believes that being a celebrity will widen her reach, “then I can also use that to synergistically improve the platform, or widen the perspective and platform that I have with being a beauty queen.”
Although she has not yet signed a contract as an official network artist, Aduana has taken part in the series “Abot-Kamay na Pangarap” where she portrayed the role of a host. “[It] is really my comfort zone, just because I do hosting too. But I actually want to train more on the drama side, or the comedy side, maybe,” she shared.
But that would have to wait as the scientist-beauty queen bared that she has submitted her application for this year’s edition of the Miss Philippines Earth pageant. “I know you guys have been waiting for me to tell you what pageant I am gonna be joining in this year,” Aduana said. Fans have been prodding her to stage a Binibining Pilipinas comeback, or compete in the now defunct Miss Supranational Philippines pageant.
“I was being completely honest when I told myself that I only wanna be joining pageants that are advocacy-driven, because that is the legacy that I want to leave as a queen. And I was also being 100 [percent] serious when I told my core team back in 2021 that I am going back to Miss Philippines Earth,” she continued.
Aduana’s first national competition was the 2021 Miss Philippines Earth pageant, conducted virtually. She represented Siniloan, Laguna, and finished as a runner-up. Beauty queenmaker and pageant mentor Rodgil Flores of the famed “Kagandahang Flores” pageant camp spotted her, and took her under his mantle.
By the end of the year, Aduana captured the Miss FIT Philippines crown. She then joined the Bb. Pilipinas pageant in 2022 where she cracked the Top 12, and received the “Face of Binibini” (Miss Photogenic) award.
Aduana said that for her fourth foray on the national pageant stage, “I don’t think I’m gonna change much. But I will just stay true to my commitment, passion, and purpose, my transcendental qualities, and elaborate on that.”
The winner of the 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant will represent the country in the 2023 Miss Earth competition in Vietnam, and will try to become the fifth Filipino woman to win the international title. EDV