TWO Filipinas, one representing the Philippines and the other Canada, won at the Miss CosmoWorld 2023 world finals held at The St. Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Wednesday night.
The coveted title went to Shelby Ann Howell of the USA who bested the field of 25 delegates worldwide and inherited the crown from last year’s winner Meiji Cruz from the Philippines, eventually winning RM1,087,769 in cash and prizes.
Cruz is currently the organizer of the Miss CosmoWorld Philippines that crowned Elda Louise Aznar as its first winner last September.
Aznar, 27, from Davao del Sur, was named as first runner-up to Howell, while Maryna Karpeka from Ukraine was second runner-up.
Aznar won RM433,850 in cash and prizes (P5,171,920) from the organizer and sponsors. Karpeka, on the other hand, won RM274,963 in cash and prizes.
Elda also bagged 4 special awards, namely, Best in National Costume, Miss Glamorous, Miss Personality and Miss Healthy.
During the final question round, Aznar was asked by Kagandahang Flores Pageant Camp founder Rodgil Flores the question: If you will be crowned as Miss CosmoWorld 2023, what initiatives and projects would you champion during your reign?
Aznar replied: “If I were to win tonight, I will continue with my cause called Hope for Action. It is a cause that creates avenues to empower women and gives opportunities to my community. I believe a Miss CosmoWorld queen is not all about beauty and elegance; we are here to become leaders and inspire many to believe that there is no limit to what women can do.”
Rounding up the 5 finalists were Lithuania’s Sandra Borriseciute and Canada’s Gianna Margarita Llanes.
Llanes, a 28-year-old news anchor at Net 25 who competed at the most recent Binibining Pilipinas, grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Gianna was asked the final question “How would you promote peace and unity on an international scale in response to recent wars?” and her answer was, “As a news reporter by profession, I am actually heartbroken reporting about innocent lives being taken away because of war. But thankfully, I have that platform with my profession as a trailblazer for peace and unity to ignite conversations on why we must listen to one another, to embrace our differences. We must accept one another, understanding that with love, we can win any war.”
The Kuala Lumpur-based Miss CosmoWorld beauty pageant was founded by Malaysian beauty queen Carrie Lee.
