Model and former video jockey Katarina Rodriguez will be wearing the Philippine sash in the Miss World 2018 pageant in China later this year after besting 39 other candidates in the national pageant held Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
During the nerve-wracking question and answer portion, the 26-year-old Davao City native was asked how she can change the opinion of people who see beauty pageants as an exploitation of women.
Rodriguez responded eloquently: “One should live by example and not by opinion, and I would like to admit I was one of those before until I learned more about what beauty pageants are about.”
“One thing I can tell you is that you may think this is very competitive, but in fact, you’ll understand beauty pageants when you know that it is actually not competitive towards the other women, it’s competitive towards yourself, and it’s all about women empowerment, and you can feel that in this group of girls, each girl knows that we are all individually beautiful,” she ended.
Apart from winning the title, Rodriguez was also the pageant night’s most decorated candidate. She went home with the Best in Long Gown, Miss Bluewater Day Spa, Miss Cosmo Skin, Miss Resorts World Manila, and Beach Body special awards.
Rodriguez, an MTV VJ, and model who spent half of her childhood in the United States, where she attended high school, has a degree in Business Management and Philosophy from De La Salle University.
A cycling instructor and long-distance runner, she is a member of De La Salle University Women’s Track and Field Team and finished second runner-up at Asia’s Next Top Model second cycle in 2014.
Part of her pageant portfolio is her first runner-up finish at the 2017 Miss Intercontinental in Egypt in January this year, after taking the title of Miss Intercontinental Philippines 2017 at the Binibining Pilipinas the year before.
Completing Rodriguez’s court were Alyssa Muhlach Alvarez (Miss Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas), Maureen Montagne (Miss Eco International Philippines), Kimi Mugford (Miss Multinational Philippines), Chanel Morales (1st Princess) and Pearl Hung (2nd Princess).
Others winners of special awards were Mugford (Sports winner), Miss Multinational Philippines 2018; Montagne (Top Model), Miss Eco Philippines 2018 and Alvarez (Miss Multimedia), Reina Hispanoamericana Filipinas 2018.
Morales (Miss Photogenic) and Hung were named First and Second Princess, respectively.
The Miss World Philippines 2018 pageant was hosted by former Miss World Philippines Ruffa Gutierrez, actress Carla Abellana, and Colombian Francisco Escobar, a former Mister World titleholder.
