Athena Mae Duarte Imperial-Rodriguez (born 2 February 1987) is a Filipino news field reporter, communication researcher and beauty queen. She competed in the eleventh edition of the national

Miss Philippines Earth Miss Philippines Earth (2004–2017, 2019–present), originally titled Miss Philippines (2001–2003) then Miss Earth Philippines (2018), is a national beauty pageant held annually in search of "the most beautiful and environmentally-consciou ...

beauty pageant where she emerged as the winner and was crowned

Miss Philippines Earth 2011 Miss Philippines Earth 2011 was the 11th edition of the Miss Philippines Earth pageant. It was held on June 5, 2011 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines with 10 finalists competed in the finale and was telecast on ABS-CBN at 10:00 pm ...

. She was crowned Miss Earth-Water 2011 during the coronation night of the Miss Earth 2011 pageant held in the Philippines.

Personal life and career

Imperial was born on 2 February 1987 in Legazpi City, Albay, but grew up in

Casiguran, Aurora Casiguran, officially the Municipality of Casiguran (Tagalog/ Kasiguranin: ''Bayan ng Casiguran''; ilo, Ili ti Casiguran), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Aurora, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

. She is the eldest child of Angel Imperial, a Philippine National Food Authority employee, and the former Mercy Duarte, a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

. Formerly, she worked as a researcher and writer for GMA television network's investigative

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

show, ''

Reporter's Notebook ''Reporter's Notebook'' is a Philippine television documentary show broadcast by GMA Network, GMA News TV and GTV. Originally hosted by Jiggy Manicad and Maki Pulido, it premiered on June 1, 2004 on the network's Tuesday evening line up. The s ...

''. She is a news anchor and senior correspondent at

GMA News TV GMA News TV (GNTV; visually rendered in its logo in all capital letters as GMA NEWS TV) is a 24-hour Philippine-based international pay television channel owned by Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of G ...

. On 2 April 2018, Imperial married stock market advocate Ben Rodriguez.

Pageantry

Miss Philippines Earth 2011

Imperial joined and represented Casiguran, Aurora in the national

. She was one of the initial 50 candidates, and after a series of four eliminations, she was announced as one of the final 10 finalists during the talent and cultural costume competitions at Thunderbird Resorts in Binangonan, Rizal. In the final competition of the Miss Philippines Earth 2011, she competed and achieved one of the five highest scores in the

swimsuit A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types may be worn by men, ...

, and

evening gown An evening gown, evening dress or gown is a long dress usually worn at formal occasions. The drop ranges from ballerina (mid-calf to just above the ankles), tea (above the ankles), to full-length. Such gowns are typically worn with evening ...

competitions for her stage chops and question and answer portion of the pageant. At the conclusion of the pageant, she won and was crowned

. She was crowned by the outgoing Miss Philippines Earth 2011 titleholder, Psyche Resus on 5 June 2011 at the Puerto Princesa City Coliseum in Palawan. She also won the People's Choice award. After her feat in the Miss Philippines Earth pageant, the governor of the

Philippine province In the Philippines, provinces ( fil, lalawigan) are one of its primary political and administrative divisions. There are 82 provinces at present, which are further subdivided into component cities and municipalities. The local government uni ...

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

remarked that Imperial would someday follow in her footsteps as governor and said: ''"Every time I heard her speak, I told myself one day she will become governor of Aurora,"'' because Imperial has a good political persona and given that she is a graduate of the country's premiere school, the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

, where the Angaras had learned the hard knocks of life.

Miss Earth 2011

Imperial finished third place during the coronation night of the

Miss Earth 2011 Miss Earth 2011, the 11th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on December 3, 2011 at the University of the Philippines Theater, inside the campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, Philippines. Nicole Faria of ...

beauty pageant held 3 December 2011 at the University of the Philippines Theater, Diliman, Quezon City. She was crowned Miss Earth - Water.

References

External links