Miss Environment International puts off 2024 tilt for PH staging next year

Mutya ng Pilipinas-Environment International Arianna Pantaleon (second from left) is joined by (from left) Mutya ng Pilipinas Pres. Cory Quirino, Mache Ackerman, and Miss Environment International President Rushikesh Mirajkar./ARMIN P. ADINA

The Miss Environment International pageant had earlier announced that it would hold its third edition in Europe this year, then later said it would stay in India for the 2024 contest. But that, too, will not push through as the next staging will be done in Manila next year.

This development was revealed to members of the media who attended what was only the send-off press conference of the reigning Mutya ng Pilipinas queens who are set to represent the country in various global contests, at Chef Jessie’s Place in Makati City on Friday afternoon, Nov. 8.

Mutya ng Pilipinas presented Alyssa Redondo, who will compete in the Miss Intercontinental pageant, Liana Barrido who will join the Miss Tourism International competition, and Anne Klein Castro who will be in the World Top Model contest.

But after the three ladies were presented, Mutya ng Pilipinas President Cory Quirino called her friend and Rotary leader, Mache Ackerman to deliver the news that the Philippines will host the third Miss Environment International pageant in June next year.

“Why June, you ask? It’s because we will celebrate the Philippine Environment Month,” she explained. This marks another edition that the international pageant is riddled with postponements. The initial staging was originally scheduled for 2021, but was later moved to 2022. The Philippines’ Michelle Arceo finished second in the contest and was proclaimed “Miss Ecosystem.”

The international pageant’s reigning queen Shannon Robinson, who was appointed by the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant to represent the Philippines in the global tilt, was crowned in June 2022.

This development also means that Robinson will have another extended reign. She was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas-Luzon in December 2022, but the national pageant did not hold a competition last year and only conducted a contest last July. And now she was met with a surprise announcement that she will not yet relinquish her international title until next year.

Arianna Pantaleon, the current Mutya queen assigned to compete in the Miss Environment International pageant, also said she had only learned that she would have to wait for seven more months before she can raise the Philippine flag. She was already raring to take the global stage as she was supposed to be the first one from her batch to compete abroad.

The two ladies also attended the event called by Mutya ng Pilipinas. They told INQUIRER.net that they only learned there that the Miss Environment International pageant will no longer push through with a 2024 competition, and that the Philippines will hold the third edition next year.

Also at the event was Miss Environment International President Rushikesh Mirajkar, who flew all the way from India to make things official. Robinson said she did not even know that the Indian pageant official was in the country. He shared that he had kept everything a secret, even from other national directors who had been asking him about the 2024 pageant.

The Miss Environment International pageant is one of the global pageant partners that the Mutya ng Pillipinas sends delegates to. The national franchise was previously held by ALV Pageant Circle of talent manager Arnold Vegafria, who fielded Arceo in the contest’s first edition.