2023 Miss Philippines Earth delegates with Caren Balingit. / ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — The 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant is on high gear after it has gathered all of the candidates for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke, with all 29 candidates presented to the public earlier this month. A tight schedule welcomed the contenders, but a rare “me-time” greeted several of the ladies recently.
“Before the pageant, every Sunday I will always take myself out. I will go to a coffee shop to read or journal, and then I will go to spas to get massages. I feel like when I started the Miss Philippines Earth journey it got pushed aside. Here now, I’m reminded how important self-care is,” Cea de Jesus, Taguig’s delegate to The Miss Philippines Earth, told the Inquirer during the candidates’ visit to a beauty clinic in Taguig City on April 12.
The wife-and-husband tandem of CEO Caren Jose Balingit and co-owner Baron Balingit welcomed De Jesus to the clinic, along with Yllana Marie Aduana from Siniloan, Laguna; Kerri Reilly from Mangatarem, Pangasinan; Joselle Gregorio from Mariveles, Bataan; Ma. Cristina Isabel Tallador from Iloilo City; Lasil Relevo from Balayan, Batangas; Patricia Nicole Yap from Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur; Fermizulli Silal from Zamboanga City; and Sha’uri Livori from the Filipino community in Melbourne, Australia.
Tallador extended her gratitude to organizer Carousel Productions, “for giving us the opportunity to have some time for our well-being and most importantly for our physical health,” while Silal said the pamper break came just right in time. “We’ll be having a very tight schedule after this. It’s very nice to be invited, it’s very much appreciated that these sponsors are helping us,” she said.
Relevo said she enjoyed the opportunity to bond with her co-candidates during the break. “I’ve been really busy, all of us. I love it when I’m just around the girls, sharing stories. We all deserve this,” she said.
But what do beauty contestants do to pamper themselves? “I usually go for a facial. Because as a person who wears lots of makeup for photoshoots, I like to keep my pores clean, make sure I don’t get any acne for future photoshoots. Usually I go for a simple basic facial,” Reilly shared. Yap said aside from facials, she also enjoys getting massages to take her stress away.
Aduana, meanwhile, attested to the benefits of IV (intravenous) services. “I really love gluta drips so much, especially that I have always been exposed to the sun, doing tree-plantings, outdoor seminars, all that. I have to be really protected from the sun, and gluta drips really provide me with immunity boosters, and make me glow all the time. It’s beauty from within,” she said. Gregorio agreed, and said, “this is really a big help for us, because of all the health benefits. We also need this to still look beautiful even with a hectic schedule.”
And it appears that the ladies are on the right track to capture the title. Reigning Miss Philippines Earth Jenny Ramp has been doing all these, the CEO told the Inquirer. “We have been taking care of her even before she won the crown,” Balingit shared.
But Livori’s concern is different from the rest of the ladies. “My most favorite treatment is the hair removal, because I struggle a lot with removing my hair. Because of my ethnic background, being Italian, we’re very hairy. So it takes a lot of upkeep to manage that,” she confessed.
The nine ladies are among the 29 aspirants in the 2023 Miss Philippines Earth pageant. The top winner, who will be crowned later this month, will represent the country in the 2023 Miss Earth pageant in Vietnam later this year. EDV