Reigning Miss Earth-Air Yllana Marie Aduana with the 2024 Miss FIT Philippines behind her onstage. Image: INQUIRER.net/Armin P. Adina
Reigning Miss Earth-Air Yllana Marie Aduana has now become one of the most iconic Filipino beauty queens in recent memory, and she fondly looked back on her first national title that she said helped mold her into the woman that she has become.
Talking to INQUIRER.net at the sidelines of the 2024 Miss FIT (Face, Intelligence, Tone) Philippines pageant’s preliminary competition at the Music Museum in San Juan City on Monday, July 8, she said the contest is really special for her.
“[This] was the pageant that really paved the way, and really opened multiple doors of opportunity for me. And this is also the pageant that paved the way for me to meet my ProMedia family (her management company), who really treated me like family, too,” said Aduana, who hosted the event.
As a competition that promotes holistic fitness, the Miss FIT Philippines is looking for a queen beyond her pretty face, emotional and intellectual intelligence, and toned physique, she said, emphasizing the pageant’s search for someone who is “holistically fit in all matters and all levels.”
Sharing her journey as a candidate in the said contest, Aduana said, “I also took the platform to really share my advocacies. Back then in 2021, I shared about my story of being able to conquer bulimia nervosa. And with that platform I was able to connect myself to people, and that molded me to become a good spokesperson that I am now.”
The licensed medical laboratory scientist said she wants the title to go to a queen who is not only holistically fit but also a great representative of the Miss FIT Philippines brand, and “someone who has an edge to join the national competition in the future.”
After clinching the Miss FIT Philippines crown, Aduana took part in the 2022 Binibining Pilipinas pageant, where she advanced to the Top 12, and also received the Face of Binibini award. A year after, she returned to the Miss Philippines pageant two years since her first participation, and bagged the top prize. She was later crowned Miss Earth-Air at the 2023 Miss Earth pageant held in Vietnam in December.
The new Miss FIT Philippines queen will be crowned at the culmination of the final competition at the SkyDome of SM North Edsa in Quezon City on July 11. Twenty-three candidates from all over the Philippines are competing this year.