Filipino director brings Italy back to the Miss Earth pageant

Reigning Miss Earth Drita Ziri (second from left) with (from left) Miss Earth-Fire Cora Bliault, Miss Earth-Air Yllana Marie Aduana and Miss Earth-Water Do Thi Lan Anh. ARMIN P. ADINA

Italy will be back in the Miss Earth pageant after skipping two editions, thanks to a Filipino director who snagged the license to send the Italian delegate to the Manila-based global tilt.

Joselli Rojas’ Los Angeles-based agency The Authority Productions has been fielding candidates from different countries to various international pageants for ladies and gentlemen for the last few years. And after sending Italy’s delegates to several tilts, he has now also earned the right to proclaim the country’s Miss Earth representative.

The last time Italy was represented in the Miss Earth pageant was in 2021, with Federica Rizza, during the second full-virtual edition of the international competition conducted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The European nation did not send a delegate when the pageant resumed its physical staging of the contest in 2022 in the Philippines, and the most recent one mounted in Vietnam last year.

“I have Miss International [Italy], what’s the next move? It’s for me to have Miss Earth Italy,” Rojas told INQUIRER.net in an interview during his recent trip to the Philippines, after sending delegates to another competition in neighboring Thailand.

When asked what hooked him on the Miss Earth pageant, he cited the competition’s works on environmental protection. “If you really look at all the pageants right now, for me, clearly, 100 percent who has an advocacy, who has projects, is Miss Earth,” he explained.

“It’s not only about the competition. After the girl winning the crown, there are projects already. They’re going to different countries. And that is what’s most important in any pageant. When you do win a crown, what are you gonna do next?” Rojas added.

He said he found the Miss Earth pageant’s dedication to the advocacy all year round as something commendable, and worth supporting. “You have one year to pursue and be the spokesperson of that particular organization. And for me that’s the only way that you can promote your real advocacies for the whole year,” he said.

Rojas may have only had a few years of experience in sending delegates to international competitions, but he has already produced winners in different competitions. And he will bring his winning touch to Italy as he scouts for the Italian Miss Earth delegate.

He said he will crown “somebody who’s definitely tall, somebody who looks like a model. I need somebody with beauty and brains, the total package. Somebody who’s kind and humble, who’s approachable, somebody who is young, but mature enough to be able to present herself,” Rojas declared.

“There are so many beautiful Italian women, and I just don’t understand why European women in general are not placing higher than usual. With Miss Earth, Albania made it as a winner last year. I said ‘I wanna do this.’ I think I have the capability of doing it. And with Filipino supporters also, I feel like I could do it,” Rojas added.

For 2024, the Miss Earth pageant is coming back home to the Philippines. The delegates are expected to arrive in Manila in October, while the coronation night will take place at Okada Manila in Parañaque City on Nov. 9.