Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 18) — Philippine bet Kathleen Paton has been crowned as this year’s Miss Eco International, a second for the country.
Paton competed with 40 other candidates in Egypt on Thursday (early Friday, Manila time).
The beauty queen initially made it into the Top 21 after she bagged the Best Eco Video award.
She later advanced to the Top 10, after she was asked about water pollution, which she considered to be a big issue in the Philippines.
“A lot of Filipinos don’t have access to clean drinking water and I believe it is a right for every single human being, especially to my Filipinos, to have access to clean water,” she said.
To address this, Paton said she will work on giving out free water filtration systems to communities in the country.
Paton landed in the Top 5 after answering this question: “As a title holder, you’re a public figure. Do you think it’s important to stay neutral on controversial social issues or to use your title to promote your own belief and why?”
Her respone: “I do believe as a leader and as someone who is very influential in society, we sometimes have to use our voice in a very neutral state of mind because we have a very influential position. But in doing so, we also need to use our voice in order to motivate other people to stand up for what is right and I think that takes a lot of good moral compass.”
This is the second Miss Eco International title for the Philippines after Cynthia Thomalla brought home the crown in 2018.
Completing the top 5 winners were Belgium (1st runner-up); USA (2nd runner-up); Spain (3rd runner-up); and Malaysia (4th runner-up).
