Karen Ibasco

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Santos and the surname or paternal family name is Ibasco.

Karen Ibasco
Born	Karen Santos Ibasco (1990-12-17) December 17, 1990 Manila, Philippines
Education	University of Santo Tomas
Occupations	Beauty pageant titleholder Medical Physicist Former College Instructor Earth Advocate
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title	Miss Philippines Earth 2017 Miss Earth 2017
Years active	2016–present
Eye color	Black
Major competition(s)	Binibining Pilipinas 2016 (Unplaced) Miss Philippines Earth 2017 (Winner) Miss Earth 2017 (Winner)

Karen Santos Ibasco (born December 17, 1990) is a Filipino-Chinese physicist and beauty queen who was the winner of Miss Earth 2017 after previously being crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2017.

Early life and education

Ibasco was born on December 17, 1990 in Manila, Philippines. She is half-Filipino, half-Chinese. She studied at Hope Christian High School in Manila and she speaks Chinese fluently. She obtained her bachelor's degree in applied physics major in instrumentation and a master's degree in applied physics major in medical physics at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, where she graduated cum laude on both degrees. She was also a former college instructor at the College of Science of the University of Santo Tomas and worked as a medical physicist at St. Luke's Medical Center, Global City.

Pageantry

Binibining Pilipinas

Ibasco was a candidate at Binibining Pilipinas 2016 pageant and represented the city of Manila.

Miss Philippines Earth

On July 15, 2017, Ibasco joined the 17th edition of the Miss Philippines Earth pageant. During the hashtag portion, candidates were made to draw from a fishbowl a topic they had to expound on, Karen's hashtag was #fake news. She said:

"Nowadays, a lot of people distribute fake news but one of the most important mediums is social media. We have to learn [how] to use it for social good. We have to learn to disseminate…and also to filter the right information not just for yourself but also for the people in your circle of influence."

During the question and answer portion of the Top 5 finalists, she was asked what she wanted to change about the environmental policies of the country. She responded:

"Everyone is experiencing climate change. I’m just grateful that the Philippines has signed the Paris Treaty. What I want to see is to pass a carbon tax. In that way, we would invest in renewable energy to help our world to be a better place, greener, inhabitable for the whole country."

At the end of the pageant, she was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2017 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City and earned the right to represent the Philippines at Miss Earth 2017 pageant.

Miss Earth 2017

Ibasco represented the Philippines in the Miss Earth 2017 pageant held in the Philippines where she was eventually crowned as Miss Earth 2017 by the outgoing Miss Earth 2016 Katherine Espín of Ecuador. She is the 4th Filipina to win the Miss Earth crown and the 3rd in the last four years.

During the hashtag segment, the Top 8 finalists were given 30 seconds to express their thoughts on a hashtag that they picked out of a bowl. Karen's hashtag was #biodiversity. She said:

"Biodiversity is very important. We are very known in the Philippines to have a lot of biodiversity, and they're very important because they also balances the ecosystem. It's very important for us to protect them, because as we protect them, we protect the environment to help save our home, our planet, our Earth, to be a better place to live in. Thank you."

During the final question and answer portion, the Top 4 contestants were asked the same question by the host James Deakin: "Who or what do you think is the biggest enemy of Mother Earth and why?" She answered:

"I believe that the real problem in this world is not climate change. The real problem is us because of our ignorance and apathy. What we have to do is to start changing our ways, to start recalibrating our minds and redirecting our steps because together, as a global community, our micro-efforts will have a macro-effect to help save our home, our planet."

Ibasco was personally congratulated by former Philippine president and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada when she paid a courtesy call on Estrada at the latter's office in Manila City Hall. She was also congratulated by former Manila City Mayor and Buhay Party-List, Lito Atienza for giving pride and honor to the City of Manila in winning Miss Earth 2017.

Accolades and commendations

Senate of the Philippines

The 17th Congress of the Senate of the Philippines through the Philippine Senate Resolution Number 539 authored by Philippine Senator Sonny Angara commended Ibasco on November 7, 2017 for being crowned as Miss Earth 2017. In a separate Senate Resolution Number 544 was filed on November 20, 2017 to recognize and commend Ibasco for honoring the Philippines in winning the Miss Earth 2017 pageant was authored by Senator Joel Villanueva. The Resolution indicated that "the Filipina beauty queen’s positive and strong determination to fulfill her dream of winning the title is indeed a positive example and great inspiration to her countrymen, particularly the youth, that no dream is impossible as long as she puts her heart and mind to it; Resolve by the Senate, that the Senate of the Philippines recognizes and commends Karen Ibasco on her victory at the Miss Earth 2017, and extends its warmest gratitude for bringing pride and glory to all Filipino citizens."

House of Representatives of the Philippines

The Lower House of the seventeenth Philippines Congress, House of Representatives of the Philippines also had two separate House Resolutions commending and conferring the "Congressional Medal of Distinction" to Ibasco for her victory in the Miss Earth 2017 pageant through the House Resolution Number 1438 authored by Congressman Eric L. Olivarez on November 6, 2017 and House Resolution 1465 authored by Congressman Yul Servo on November 21, 2017. “The House Resolution stated “As the reigning Miss Earth 2017, Ibasco will serve as the ambassador to environmental protection campaigns worldwide, influencing millions of people and creating a huge effect to the preservation of our Mother Earth for future generation. By being crowned Miss Earth, she made the country proud and has shown to the world the true meaning of Filipino beauty, excellence and love for the environment. Her beauty is truly a beauty for a cause.”

Woman of the Year

In May 2018, Ibasco was one of the recipients of The Outstanding Men and Women of the Year Philippines for her contributions to society and the country, as well as her active pursuit of her environmental advocacies. The event was held at the Teatrino Promenade in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila where she also won the Face of the Year special award.

Toast award

The University of Santo Tomas College of Science Alumni Association recognized Ibasco as a notable graduate in the Thomasian Outstanding Alumni Scientists Tribute (TOAST) Awards on March 2, 2019 for her environmental advocacies and in recognition of her significant and exemplary contribution to the science community and the nation.

Media and environmental activism

In August 2017, Ibasco was invited in the Senate of the Philippines and voiced her support for the fuel excise tax provision at one of the hearings conducted by the Senate ways and means committee on the proposed Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN). She indicated in the hearing that "as a signatory to the Paris climate change treaty that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Philippine is committed within a specific timeframe to cut its carbon emissions, which can be done partly by approving the fuel excise tax provision under TRAIN."

Ibasco went to Cambodia in November 2017 and took part with the environmental and social activities such as school tours, tree planting and visited historical landmarks Angkor Wat and Siem Reap.

She joined a climate change conference on December 7, 2017 where she delivered a welcome message at the first Kasugbong Kalibutan International Climate Change Conference in Catbalogan, Samar.

She traveled in Vietnam in January 2018 to grace a fashion event together with Miss Earth Vietnam 2010 Lưu Thị Diễm Hương and supermodel Võ Hoàng Yến which was organized by fashion designer, Tuyet Le. She was also the guest of honor in the opening of Shira Clinic and Spa in Hanoi.

During her reign, she collaborated in the Philippines with the Conservation for Ocean Resources and Aquatic Life (CORAL), a non-governmental organization to plant corals in the oceans, worked with Plastic Solutions to reduce the consumption of plastic, conducted school tours to educate children about the environment and promoted the use solar power.

In June 2018, she went to Mexico to attend social and environmental activities of the Miss Earth Mexico pageant. She was accompanied by Miss Water 2017, Juliana Franco of Colombia. Ibasco proceeded to Reunion Islands together with Miss Earth Fire 2018 Lada Akimova of Russia and served as guest speakers at the very first Environmental Conference in Réunion Island and visited the city of Saint-Pierre to raise ecological awareness through school tours where they educated children on the daily actions in favor of the environment, spearheaded the planting of more than 1000 trees in the Saint-Pierre territory with the introduction of various endemic species.

In July 2018, she led the tree planting activity in Balasan, Iloilo called "One Thousand Trees for the Future, A Tree Planting Activity" in coordination with The Open Arms for Children, Inc and the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources. She also participated in the opening of the two-day Bataan Environment Summit 2018, which tackled Bataan's environmental conservation and protection achievements.

She traveled to Singapore in August 2018 as special guest for the Miss Earth Singapore 2018 pageant in which she crowned Kara Dong at the Grand Ballroom of One Farrer Hotel on August 3, 2018. She then proceeded to Bogotá, Colombia to attend the Miss Earth Colombia and crowned Valeria Maria Ayos Bossa as Miss Earth Colombia 2018 on August 26, 2018 and then traveled to Belgium and met with the Philippine ambassador in Brussels and talked about the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Belgium.

She appeared in the cover page of an American monthly women's fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar- Vietnam edition in March 2018 and wore the 2018 collection of Vietnamese fashion designer Tuyet Le.

In addition to her numerous trips around Philippines, during her reign as Miss Earth, Ibasco had traveled to Cambodia, Vietnam, Mexico, Réunion Island, Singapore, Colombia and Belgium.

After winning Miss Earth 2017, she continued with her environmental advocacies and participated in climate change conferences, conducted environmental talks, educated students internationally and joined the American media organization, TEDx as an environmental speaker. She collaborated with the Conservation of Ocean's Resources and Aquatic Life (CORAL) to promote ocean conservation by planting corals in the seabed. She joined another non-governmental organization, Plastic Solutions in 2019 to promote reusable building blocks, ecobricks made from waste plastic bottle packed with used plastics and advocated the single-use plastic ban to save oceans. She was also chosen as an ambassador of international non-governmental organization, World Wide Fund for Nature in 2019 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment.

Ibasco was appointed as the Climate Change Commission's Youth Ambassador in the Philippines in 2019 and was sent as one of the representatives of the Philippines in the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit which aims to bring the countries closer to meeting the goals of the Paris agreement which was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City on 23 September 2019. As a youth ambassador of the Climate Change Commission, she focused on "Gender and Climate Change".

She served as the muse of Myanmar delegates in the opening ceremony of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games held at the Philippine Arena in the Philippines on November 30, 2019.

In October 2020, she revealed that she contracted and tested positive for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and she shared survival tips and spread awareness of the disease in the Philippines.

Ibasco was selected to join the virtual United Nations event during the speech of Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres which was held at Columbia University in New York City in December 2020.

In December 2020, she was designated as the ambassador for R.E.START Renewable Energy Transition to promote energy conservation and to raise awareness on renewable energy transition.

External links

• Karen Ibasco on Instagram