Katarina Rodriguez is 1st runner-up at the Miss Intercontinental 2017 pageant

Philippine bet Katarina Rodriguez finished 1st runner-up at the Miss Intercontinental 2017 pageant held at the Sunrise Garden Beach Resort and Spa in Egypt on January 24 (Egypt time).

Mexico's Veronica Salas Vallejo is the newly crowned Miss Intercontinental 2017.

 

Meraki, to do all things with soul, creativity & passion. Simply do as the Egyptians do. ????????????

A post shared by KATARINA (@katarinarodri) on

Jan 24, 2018 at 4:54pm PST

 

Miss Intercontinental 2017 is MEXICO - Veronica Salas Vallejo 1st Runner Up: Philippines 2nd Runner Up: Netherlands 3rd Runner Up: Brazil 4th Runner Up: Colombia 5th Runner Up: Korea #MissIntercontinental2017 #MissIntercontinental #powerhousePH

A post shared by powerhousePH (@powerhouseph_) on

Jan 24, 2018 at 12:27pm PST

Miss Netherlands Cathelijne Heppenhuis is 2nd runner-up, Miss Brazil Amanda Cardoso, 3rd runner-up; Miss Colombia Lizeth Mendieta Villanueva is 4th runner-up and Miss Korea Su Jin, placed 5th runner-up.

Katarina aced the Q&A portion during the pageant, where was asked, "What is the most important thing that you have learned about participating in Miss Intercontinental?"

Her answer:

"The most important thing that I have learned while participating in this beauty pageant is actually an Arabic word, which is actually named after one of the Sunrise Resorts. It's called meraki. It means to do all things with passion, soul, and creativity. When I heard this word and the definition, it resonated with me, until now and for the rest of my life. Therefore, that is the most important thing that I've learned while participating in this pageant. Meraki, to do all things with soul, passion, and creativity. Thank you."

 

A post shared by powerhousePH (@powerhouseph_) on

Jan 24, 2018 at 11:36am PST

The pageant organization have also selected continental queens, where Katarina was also named Miss Intercontinental Asia.

Miss Nigeria Abigail Esther Ejike is Miss Intercontinental Africa, Miss Netherlands Cathelijne Madelief Heppenhuis is Miss Intercontinental Europe, Miss Brazil Amanda Cardoso is Miss Intercontinental South America, and Miss Mexico Verónica Salas Vallejo is Miss Intercontinental North America.

Filipino beauty queens who competed at Miss Intercontinental have also finished as one of the runner-ups including Christi Lynn McGarry in 2015 who also finished 1st-runner up, Kris Janson in placed 2nd runner-up 2014 and Andrea Koreen Medina placed as 3rd runner-up in 2013. — Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/LA, GMA News