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Bacolod City — Beauty contestants from 27 countries are arriving in Bacolod City for the Miss Earth 2009 Pre-Talent Competition at the L'Fisher Hotel 7 p.m. Monday.
Eighty candidates from all over the world are joining the Miss Earth Beauty Pageant in Boracay on Nov. 22, said former Bacolod Rep. John Orola, who arranged the Bacolod visit of the Miss Earth beauties.
The candidates have been divided into three batches for the pre-talent competition to be held in Bacolod, Bulacan and Puerto Princesa, Orola said Saturday.
The winners at the three venues will compete for the Miss Talent title on the final pageant night on Nov. 22, he added.
The Miss Earth 2009 advocacy is on Environmental Tourism under the I Love Planet Earth Program. They become spokespersons and role models to create awareness of the global effects of climate change and how to deal with the recent global environmental crisis, he said.
On arriving in Negros on Monday, the 27 contestants will pay a courtesy call on Gov. Isidro Zayco at the Provincial Capitol in Bacolod City at 11 a.m. He will then host lunch for them at Planta Hotel.
Expected to arrive are Leila Adrovic of Bosnia Herzegovina; Larissa Ramos - Brazil; Malena Orozco Solano - Costa Rica; Diana Delgado - Ecuador; Mayra Aldana - El Salvador; Magalie Thierry - France; Triantafyllia Sarantinou - Greece; Maria Luisa Santos - Guam; Alejandra Mendoza - Honduras; Inessa Nazarova - Kazakhstan; Elza Marku - Kosovo; Zhao Vi Shan - Macau; Daniela Mizzi - Malta; Natalla Quiñones Perez - Mexico; Richa Thapamgar - Nepal; Kayieigh O' Relly - Northern Ireland; Jessica Shialer - Peru; Diagnelis Taymi Jimenez - Puerto Rico; Natalia Sokolovskaya - Russia; Varuna Curry - Samoa; Sarah Finlay - Scotland; Valerie Lim - Singapore; Maja Jamnik - Slovenia; Graziella Rogers - Switzerland; Niuriki Teremate - Tahiti; Evelyne Almasi - Tanzania; and Rujinan Phanseethum - Thailand.
The Miss Earth candidates at 1:30 p.m. will go to Barangay Punta Taytay, the site of a mangrove reforestation project where they will be received by barangay officials led by Capt. Rufino Alcala and students from the Francisco Flores Elementary School.
At 2 p.m. they will proceed to the VMA Training Center and will be received by Elizabeth Salabas, VMA Global College president, and Philippine Coast Guard officials, and will be treated to a group demonstration on disaster preparedness, Orola said.
Tickets for the Miss Earth Talent Competition at 7 p.m. Monday with dinner cost P1,000, Orola said. Proceeds of the dinner show will go to the Bantay Bata Foundation 163 Negros Chapter of ABS-CBN, he said.
The contestants will be given a brief tour of Silay City's tourism attractions by Mayor Jose Montelibano. /INQUIRER
