Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong and I (Photo credit: Collin Yap for Fabmanilaph)
“I can’t imagine the Miss Earth 2015 crown on anyone else’s head. But I don’t want to assume that it should be on top of mine as well. I really worked hard for it. During the first week of competition or so, there were days when I felt sad that, despite my best efforts, I still wasn’t getting the medal recognition from events I thought I handled very well.
But thanks to (Miss Earth 2014) Jamie Herrell who was both a shoulder to lean on and a supporter who cheered me up everytime I felt weak and disappointed. It also helped that I was close to the candidates of Portugal, Romania and Peru. We bonded like real sisters. And we stood by each other as much as possible.
I stood my ground, brought myself up and competed like I never did before. I made sure of putting my best foot forward when it was time to socialize. You’ll never know when a person you’re talking to could be one of the judges observing the candidates. True enough, some of them actually turned up during our preliminary closed door interviews so it wasn’t hard for me to interact with them anymore. They would always throw difficult questions at my direction and answered them very well.
When the other girls would start complaining about the smallest concerns, I would try my best to give them sound advise on how to handle the competition. It wasn’t easy, I know. But it is far more important to show that you can take things in a more mature manner.
During finals night and the announcement of winners, I was silently whispering not to be called for either Fire or Water. But when Australia was named for Air, I asked God not to leave me empty-handed. Thankfully, I got Earth. I was told that the title was narrowed down to just between me and Dayanna (Miss Australia) because we led the scoring among the judges.
That’s Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong talking to your blogger during her victory celebration at the Carousel Mansions in Mandaluyong City last night. She was in high spirits and talked to every press member present. Her energy was contagious. And I am convinced more than ever that she deserved to be the top winner – and a back-to-back achiever at that.
Right after New Year, Angelia will have her motorcade parade courtesy of the City of Manila. After that, she will resume the business of her reign and hopefully, become the best Miss Earth ever.
Merry Christmas, Angelia! :-D
Merry Christmas, Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong! (Photo credit: Collin Yap for Fabmanilaph)
