Karla Henry: The down-to-earth beauty from the Queen City

If Venezuela is known to be home to world-class beauty queens, the Philippines is haven to down-to-earth daughters of Mother Nature. This has been proven hands down by Karla Paula Ginteroy Henry, our country’s bet to this year’s Miss Earth beauty pageant who became the very first Asian to have inherited the title after seven years of attempt—not to mention the first Cebuana to have made it beyond the national sphere.    

To say that she captured the crown by edging out other environmentally responsible women and winning the judges’ nod with her bewitching charm and regal bearing would be an understatement. 

“I would suggest that environmental awareness be included in the current curriculum not only in U.S. schools but also here in the Philippines.... for I firmly believe that the children are definitely our hope in resolving global environmental issues,” replied Karla to the final question: “If you are to meet the newly elected U.S. President Barrack Obama, what will you tell him?”

But what if she were to talk to our very own President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo? The quick-witted Cebuana charmer admits to saying the same thing: “I would tell President Arroyo the same thing as I would President Obama. The lack of awareness and ignorance towards the environment is an issue that is relevant not only in our country but also in the entire world. The youth, specifically young Filipinos, are eager to learn, and inasmuch as we want them to advance in their academic endeavors, we should also consider that the children are our best weapons for the fight against many of our environmental issues.”

Tough competition

In an exclusive interview for The FREEMAN Entertainment, Karla says she wouldn’t have changed a bit of her answer to the make or break final question, given another time and circumstances. “I wouldn’t have changed the content of my answer. I stand proudly by my advocacy which is environmental education. The delivery may have been more fluent but the content would still have been the same.” She adds that one of her dreams as Miss Earth is to be given that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Obama in the flesh, so that together, they can discuss relevant issues of today, especially as far as global warming is concerned.

She might have had a lot of pageant and modelling experiences, but Karla was very well aware she was competing neck and neck with veterans from all over the world. While she was bent on becoming the first Filipina to win the Miss Earth title, Karla had her share of qualms. However, she was more excited than nervous throughout the pageant. She shares, “I think that any of us 84 delegates could have easily been crowned that night given the right time at the right place. All of us were chosen by our countries because our countrymen believed that we are intelligent and beautiful women and that we would make perfect ambassadors for the preservation and conservation of the environment.”

From the onset of the competition down to the last round, Karla was apparently a stand-out amongst the bevy of beauties vying for one of the top 3 most prestigious positions in the international pageant field (vis-a-vis international pageants Miss Universe and Miss World). But in as much as Miss Earth is organized and held annually in our own backyard in the Philippines, controversies couldn’t help surrounding our very own environmental advocate—which would bring back this writer’s conversation with Karla as her official chaperone during her homecoming from winning as Miss Earth Philippines last May. 

Asked where Miss Earth would be held in a few months, Karla answered, “I heard it’s going to be in Korea, but negotiations have not been finalized yet. It would be exciting if it were to be held in one’s own country, but then I heard that it would lessen a local delegate’s chance of winning for delicadeza reasons. But if it should be happening here sometime in November, let me just do my best, and let’s cross the bridge when we get there.

Unfazed by controversy

Karla, the half-Canadian/Filipina mestiza who once was chosen as Miss TriMedia representing The Freeman, is nonetheless poised in the face of all the scuttlebutts around her winning the most coveted crown of Miss Earth 2008. ”I respect people’s opinion, but I would disagree if they said that the organization was biased and unfair. For eight years that Miss Earth has been held in the Philippines, not once had our country won the main title. Even our very own Miss Philippines last year did not make it to the top 16 cut, thus paving the rumors that this pageant was fixed.”

“I would rather dwell on my responsibility to care for our Mother Nature because that’s what I’m here for in the first place. I believe that the judges were right about choosing me and the organizers didn’t do anything to influence the judges’ decision because that’s beyond their control.

“If there are still critics out there, I urge them to rewatch the pageant either on Youtube or otherwise and be the judge for themselves. Besides, if we paid more attention to caring for our environment than putting down this one pageant for a cause, for sure we can gradually become a cleaner and greener nation,” adds the brainy beauty from the Queen City of the South.

Those who have the trained eye for beauty and grace, not to mention the keen ear for wit, couldn’t have been more downright quick in contesting the hearsays that the results were rigged out of a homecourt decision. Karla’s stage presence alone already stunned viewers that particular Sunday night at Clark Expo Ampitheater in Pampanga.

No less than The Freeman’s fashion scribe Dexter Alazas, managing director of the A.D. Models Philippines who handles Karla Henry’s career in Cebu and entered her in Miss Philippines-Earth, says, “I wish everyone were intelligent enough to see through a beauty queen’s class and elegance, the inner beauty in her, and of course her EQ (Environment Quotient) so that they would understand why our very own delegate was picked the fairest of them all.”

The very morning after being unplaced in last March’s Binibining Pilipinas marked her foray into what she later realized as a defining and life-changing moment. Dexter Alazas had arranged an appointment for her at Carousel Productions, the outfit that organizes both Miss Philippines and Miss Earth, wherein she was to become an official candidate to Miss Philippines-Earth 2008 representing Cebu City. The next thing she knew she won it, and would be representing the country to Miss Earth.

Commitment to the environment

During Miss Earth, we couldn’t help but wonder what could’ve been her thoughts from the start of the pageant up until she was announced as part of the magic 4. And when it was just her and Miss Tanzania left to be proclaimed as either Miss Air or Miss Earth, what was Karla saying to Miriam (Tanzania) as both of them were holding each other’s hands? “I was telling her that no matter what the result would be, we had made our respective countries proud. Miriam was always full of energy, and I couldn’t be happier to have spent the one month with her, as well as with Abby (Miss Mexico) and Tatianna (Miss Brazil). I’m sure Miriam would’ve also become a wonderful Miss Earth had she been the one chosen,” Karla admits.

She then reacts to the question whether she sensed an air of jealousy. “Miss Tanzania was never like that. She was a sweet and kind woman who’s never afraid to speak her mind—that’s why she and I got along very well. She was very happy for me. We were very close from the very beginning.”

After her victory, what was her first morning as the brand-new Miss Earth like? “The next morning was quite intense. The four of us were immediately rushed off to certain activities... throughout the hustle and bustle of the day. We didn’t have the opportunity to notice any other delegate who might’ve been sour-graping. Plus, I think the girls were too busy cherishing their last few moments with each other before departing for their respective countries,” Karla remembers.

With Miss Earth’s mission to dedicate her reign to addressing issues concerning the environment, it seems a rather tall order for this 22-year-old brown-eyed beauty queen whose highest goal before her reign ends is ”to travel to many different countries promoting Ms. Earth’s message of a Green Lifestyle, and to actively participate in their respective environmental organizations...” As the 8th Miss Earth, she would like to be remembered for having accomplished many things for Mother Earth not just in the course of her reign, but also beyond. “I’m not going to consider my turnover next year as the end of it all, for the world’s environmental problems will not go away with the relinquishing of my crown to my successor. I would still gladly be ready to give a helping hand to the new batch of Miss Earth beauties.”

Currently based in Manila to fulfill her duties and responsibilities as Miss Earth, Karla Henry may either choose to come back to Cebu or decide to stay in the national capital after her reign. It goes without saying that fellow Cebuanos would like to know if she is going to give it a shot, should showbiz beckon, just like it did to her fellow international title-holders Precious Lara Quigaman, Miriam Quaimbao, Michelle Aldana, et al.

“I am taking things one day at a time and cherishing every minute of my reign. To think of the end would be quite depressing for me so, as I said before, let’s cross the bridge when we get there. But as for now, nothing fills my head but the duties and responsibilities entrusted to me by the organization and the Miss Earth Foundation,” Mother Nature’s most beauteous daughter beams, with a promise to be well worthy of both her title as Miss Earth 2008 and her cause to make this planet a cleaner and greener place to live in.