Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — Nicolle Lagera already participated in the 2015 Miss Teenager Universe contest in Panama, where she was also proclaimed as a continental queen. But eight years after her first crack at the international arena, she is back on the pageant stage, this time targeting a national title — the Miss Philippines Earth crown.
She is taking her chance in the advocacy-driven national pageant because she was inspired by 2015 Miss Earth Angelia Ong’s winning answer, she told a select group of media scribes and content creators at Cabalen at Glorietta in Makati City on March 31.
“I watched her (Ong) in person in 2015. And when she said her slogan ‘we will because we can,’ I said, ‘yes, I can.’ I really pushed it because I think I can. So I did,” shared Lagera, who is representing the Filipino community in California in the United States in the 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant.
After earning a degree in consular and diplomatic affairs at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Lagera said she tried to join the Miss Philippines Earth and the Miss Universe Philippines pageants. “I watched my videos, I was not worthy back then. Now I’m ready,” she said.
Nicolle Lagera is representing the Filipino community in California in the 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant./ARMIN P. ADINA
The 26-year-old lass is currently working as an account executive in a digital marketing company. She said chose to take advantage of the Miss Philippines Earth platform because, “my heart and my passion is for helping the environment, the animals, trees, nature. This is all connected, this is the world that we live in, we have to preserve it so we don’t experience more difficulties that we are already experiencing.”
Organized by Manila-based Carousel Productions, the Miss Philippines Earth pageant and the international Miss Earth competition promote environmental protection. The candidates are dubbed “beauties for a cause” and the winners embark on projects aimed at spreading awareness on the environment.
For Lagera, air pollution remains to be a problem that needs to be addressed efficiently, and immediately. “Like in California, the air pollution is bad. With the way that we’re using fossil fuels, the quality of air is really bad, and it shows with how it affects us,” she explained.
She also noted how apt the pageant’s theme this year is, ‘ME Loves 20TREE,’ in addressing the long-standing global problem of air pollution. “Planting trees really help, and I want to talk to local government units,” she said.
Lagera is among the 29 candidates competing in the 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant. The winner, who will be crowned later this month, will represent the country in the 2023 Miss Earth pageant in Vietnam later this year. EDV