All hail the new queen!
Katarina Rodriguez won the Miss World Philippines 2018 title at the coronation night held at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, October 7.
A veteran in the pageant scene — she is the 1st runner-up in the Miss Intercontinental 2017 pageant — Katarina owned the pageant early on, winning a slew of special awards including Miss Blue Water Day Spa, Miss Cosmo Skin, Miss Resorts World Manila and Best in Long Gown.
Katarina eloquently answered during the Question and Answer portion, where she was asked about how some feminists think beauty pageants are a form of women exploitation.
Miss World Philippines 2018 Q&A: Candidate #27 Katarina Rodriguez. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/KczGVFIwXU
— Jannie (@jannieannb) October 7, 2018
Admitting she was "one of those feminists before," Katarina said she changed her mindset when she "learned more about what beauty pageants are about. One thing I can tell you is that you may think it's very competitive but it's not. You understand beauty pageants when you know that it is actually not competitive against other women. It's actually competitive towards yourself. And in a sense, it's all about woman empowerment. And you can feel that in this group of girls… each girl knows that we are all individually beautiful."
Hours before the coronation night, Katarina took to Instagram to say she is dedicating the competition to the Philippines.
"My heart cannot be fuller than tonight, to walk the stage again for all of our nation, competing to wear the Philippine sash over my heart one more time - and this time for the world," she said.
Below is the complete list of winners:
- Second Princess: Candidate 11 Pearl Hung
- First Princess: Candidate 39 Chanel Morales
- Miss Multinational Philippines 2018: Candidate 35 Kim-Lei Mugford
- Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2018: Candidate 33 Alyssa Muhlach Alvarez
- Miss Eco Philippines 2018: Candidate 16 Maureen Montagne
Congrats to everyone! — LA, GMA News