MANILA, Philippines—Newly-crowned Miss Eco International Kathleen Paton said receiving the crown from a queen touted as “the best” gives her “a lot of hope and motivation to also live up to the expectations of the organization.”

Paton arrived in the country on March 22 from her triumphant pageant stint in Egypt on March 16 (March 17 in Manila).

There, the pageant’s founder Dr. Amaal Rezk said the United Nations (UN) dubbed 2020 winner Gizelle Mandy Uys of South Africa as “the best Miss Eco queen.”

Uys captured the crown in the pageant’s 2020 edition staged a year later because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

No official 2021 edition was held. During the coronation ceremonies of 2022, Rezk also conferred the 2021 Miss Eco International title to the South African queen, officially making her a queen for two years.

Paton said she believes she can also be the best Miss Eco International.

“I’ll do my best in order to use my voice to advocate for change, and also to advocate for all the different awareness that I needed to, in regards to mental health and water conservation, water pollution, of course education,” she shared.

The Aklan-born queen bested 40 other aspirants to become the second Filipino woman to be crowned Miss Eco International.

Cynthia Thomalla, the Philippines’ first representative in the Egypt-based pageant, scored the country’s first victory in 2018.

By winning the Miss Eco International title, Paton now has the opportunity to become a United Nations (UN) goodwill ambassador, focusing on environmental causes.

“Being able to use my voice on this platform as Miss Eco as well as having the backup of the UN goodwill ambassadorship, it is a lot of honor and responsibility. And I honestly cannot wait to get that title,” Paton said.

But even before officially accepting her UN ambassadorship, Paton’s duties as Miss Eco International has already began.

She reported that New York-based organization 100 For All has conducted a fundraiser and will come to the Philippines on April 22 to provide a water filtration system in a community in the province of Cebu.

“One water filtration system actually costs quite a lot of money, it’s about $10,000. So to have that fundraiser in New York as well as here in the Philippines, I think we can bring more filtration systems all around the world,” Paton said.

She also appealed to private companies, and even the government, to support her initiatives.

“I believe we can make change little by little, ultimately a long-lasting change, because these water filtrations last a long time,” Paton continued.

In one stage of the contest, the queen discussed the Filipino people’s plight for access to clean water.

“I believe it is a right for every single human being,” she said.

Paton also reported that she is scheduled return to Egypt in May to further discuss her official schedule with the organization, and to work on her UN ambassadorship.

There, the queen will also get to wear her crown again, which was sent back to the Netherlands for resizing to fit her head.

“I will return to the Philippines with the crown. I really want for all of you to see it,” she declared.

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