Angelia Gabrena Paglicawan Ong (; born June 27, 1990) is a Filipino-Chinese model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2015. She represented the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

at the

Miss Earth 2015 Miss Earth 2015, the 15th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on 5 December 2015 at Marx Halle in Vienna, Austria. Jamie Herrell of the Philippines crowned her compatriot Angelia Ong as successor at the end of the event. It was the firs ...

pageant and won the title.

Early life and education

Ong is half Filipino and half Chinese. She was born on June 27, 1990, in the Lapuz railway district in

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo ( hil, Siyudad/Dakbanwa sang Iloilo; fil, Lungsod ng Iloilo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines on the island of Panay. It is the capital city of ...

where she finished her primary and secondary education. She studied a few years at St. Paul University Iloilo for her early college education taking up Mass Communications. She finished secondary education at Hua Siong College (formerly Iloilo Central Commercial High School or ICCHS). She moved to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in 2011 and pursued her college education taking up Marketing Management at the

De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde ( Filipino: ''Dalubhasaan ng De La Salle San Benildo;'' French:'' Collège De La Salle de Sainte Benilde''), also known as Benilde and abbreviated DLS–CSB or simply CSB, is a private, Catholic research c ...

where she finished and graduated in 2016.

Accolades and commendations

Office of the Philippine President

On December 14, 2015, the

Office of the President of the Philippines The Office of the President of the Philippines (OP; fil, links=no, Tanggapan ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas), is an administrative, advisory, and consultative government agency that aids the president of the Philippines in performing their duty as he ...

commended Ong through Philippine Secretary of Presidential Communications and Operations Herminio Coloma for winning the Miss Earth 2015 title and giving the Philippines its first back-to-back win.

Senate of the Philippines

On December 14, 2015, the

Senate of the Philippines The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representatives ...

through the Philippine Senate Resolution Number 1681 authored by

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Manuel Lapid Manuel "Lito" Mercado Lapid (; born October 25, 1955) is a Filipino actor and politician serving as a Senator since 2019, and previously from 2004 to 2016. He started his political career in Pampanga, serving as vice governor from 1992 to 19 ...

commended Ong for honoring the Philippines in her victory in the Miss Earth 2015 pageant. The Resolution indicated that "Ong made history as she succeeded another Filipina beauty queen, a first in the pageant's 15-year history and the third Filipina to bag the prestigious crown with

Jamie Herrell Jamie Herrell (born July 12, 1994) is an American-born actress and beauty queen. She won Miss Philippines Earth 2014 and Miss Earth 2014 titles. Herrell was a recipient of the Outstanding Individual Award during the 80th Cebu City Charter Day ...

as her predecessor and

Karla Henry Karla Paula Ginteroy Henry (; born May 23, 1986) is a Filipino-Canadian beauty pageant titleholder. She was crowned Miss Earth 2008, becoming the first Philippine delegate and the first in the Asian region to win that title. Early life Henry was ...

winning the crown in 2008, making the Philippines the only country with a three-crown record."

House of Representatives of the Philippines

The

Lower House A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the Philippines Congress,

House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house of Congress, th ...

through the House Resolution Number 2561 which was authored by

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Leopoldo N. Bataoil commended Ong for her victory in the Miss Earth 2015 pageant. The House Resolution stated that "Ong's achievement brought pride to the Filipino people and will serve as an inspiration to young Filipino women, as well and remind the country of its responsibilities to the environment." Angelia Ong supports International Women's Day

Angelia Ong supports International Women's Day

Empowered Men and Women of the Year 2017

In December 2017, Ong was one of the awardees of Philippine Empowered Men and Women of the Year 2017 held at the Teatrino Prominade in

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographica ...

for her inspiring life story and her will to serve other people and communities.

Pageantry

Prior to Miss Earth

Ong joined the StarStruck V and made it to Top 60. She competed and finished Second Runner-Up at the Miss Manila 2014 pageant and won Best in Long Gown and Press Choice Award. She competed at the

Binibining Pilipinas 2011 Binibining Pilipinas 2011 was the 48th edition of Binibining Pilipinas. It was held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines on April 10, 2011. At the end of the event, Venus Raj crowned Shamcey Supsup as Miss Un ...

pageant, representing Iloilo City, and she received the People's Choice Special Award as the "Face of Binibining Pilipinas 2011."

Miss Philippines Earth 2015

Ong participated and won in the Miss Philippines Earth 2015 on May 31, 2015, at the

Mall of Asia Arena The SM Mall of Asia Arena, also known as the Mall of Asia Arena or the MoA Arena, is an indoor arena within the SM Mall of Asia complex, in Bay City, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It has a seating capacity of 15,000 for sporting events, an ...

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 440,656 people. Due to its location jus ...

and earned the right to represent the

pageant. She expressed support for same-sex marriage rights during a question-and-answer portion of 2015 pageant:

She bested 37 other hopefuls from across the Philippines and was crowned by

Miss Earth 2014 Miss Earth 2014, the 14th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, was held on November 29, 2014 at the University of the Philippines Theater, inside the campus of the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City, Philippines. Alyz Henrich of ...

. As Miss Philippines Earth, her advocacy is focused on restoration, reforestation, and minimizing carbon footprint through

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

Miss Earth 2015

Ong represented the Philippines and won in the

pageant held at Marx Halle,

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The coronation night occurred on December 5, 2015. During the pre-pageant activities, Angelia won a silver medal for the ''Miss Friendship'' award and a bronze medal for the evening gown competition. During the Top-8 round of question and answer, Angelia was asked what would be

Miss Earth Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is on ...

's slogan for the next fifteen years. She replied:

During the announcement of winners, Angelia was crowned by her predecessor

, also from the

. Angelia was the first to win back-to-back for her country in

. During her reign, she has traveled

Reunion Island Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and numerous trips in the

Media and environmental activism

During her early teen years, she was a co-host of the now-defunct

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

–

Iloilo Iloilo (), officially the Province of Iloilo ( hil, Kapuoran sang Iloilo; krj, Kapuoran kang Iloilo; tl, Lalawigan ng Iloilo), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the City of Iloilo, the ...

local Sunday variety show, Bongga from 2004 to 2006. On December 19, 2015, Ong joined environmental group Ecowaste Coalition and launched the “Iwas-Paputoxic” campaign and urged the people, especially youth, to welcome the 2016 New Year using safe and non-toxic materials. She hosted the opening ceremony of the Asia–Pacific Forestry Week 2016 aimed at promoting sustainable forest management on February 23, 2016, which was organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Asia–Pacific Forestry Commission, and the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Ong led ten other beauty queens in launching a project of the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

, dubbed as “Race to One Million Seedlings”, held in

Camp Aguinaldo Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo (CGEA), also known as Camp Aguinaldo, is the site of the general headquarters (GHQ) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) located in eastern Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is located in Quezon City alon ...

. The project aims to grow and plant one million tree seedlings across

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

, as part of the National Greening Program, which seeks to increase forest cover in Metro Manila and adjacent regions. Together with

Philippine Senator The Senate of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines with the House of Representativ ...

Cynthia Villar, Ong led the

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

celebration in the Philippines on April 22, 2016, at the Las Piñas-Parañaque Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (LPPCHEA), a wetland situated south of

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the Manila, capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between t ...

. As an ambassador for environmental protection campaigns in the Philippines, she joined a coastal cleaning effort on the coast of

Freedom Island Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving one ...

. She also participated with other women in a hand-painting exercise to raise awareness and develop a sense of public responsibility pertaining to environmentally sustainable practices on Earth Day. Ong completed the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training under US Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

, founder and chairman of the Climate Change Reality Project, for her pursuance of effective platform to create environmental awareness on climate change. Ong travelled to Reunion Islands and crowned Elsa Techer as Miss Earth Reunion Islands 2016 at the culmination of the gala night on May 7, 2016, in Reunion Islands. During the Philippines Independence Day on June 12, 2016, she talked about her advocacy to fight climate change. On July 28, 2016, Ong went to the United States to attend the coronation of Miss Earth United States 2016 pageant. She went to Armenia, Colombia, on August 11, 2016, together with Btittany Ann Payne Miss Earth Water 2016, to crown the winner of Miss Earth Colombia 2016. She also joined the Miss Earth Colombia 2016 candidates for the Todos Ponemos program to promote sustainable development, preservation of natural resources, and "the three Rs": reduce, reuse, recycle. Ong arrived in Sri Lanka on August 26, 2016, with the invitation by TV Derana. There she crowned the winner Derana Miss Sri Lanka for Miss Earth 2016 on August 31, 2016, at Citrus, Waskaduwa. In Sri Lanka, she engaged in numerous environmental projects, including the launching of “Manusath Derana Nature Force’ project, an initiative to plant one million trees in the country where 300 sandalwood plants were initially planted. She was accompanied by Brittany Ann Payne, Miss Earth Water 2016. In April 2017, Ong and

Miss Earth 2016 Miss Earth 2016, the 16th edition of the Miss Earth pageant, with the theme "Empowered to make a Change", was held on October 29, 2016, at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. 83 contestants from all over the world competed ...

Katherine Espín flew to

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

for the Earth Day 2017 and for the crowning of Miss Earth Angola 2017 and also graced a tree planting activity together with Fundacao Verde with the support of the Government of Angola and the Ministerio do Ambiente. She traveled in various countries during her reign as Miss Earth 2015 such as

Réunion Island Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and all over the

to raise environmental public awareness. Ong served as the

muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

of Thailand delegates in the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

held at the

Philippine Arena The Philippine Arena is the world's largest indoor arena. It is a multipurpose indoor arena with a maximum seating capacity of 55,000 at Ciudad de Victoria, a 140-hectare tourism enterprise zone in Bocaue and Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippin ...

in the Philippines on November 30, 2019. She appeared in the cover page of an American monthly women's

fashion magazine Fashion journalism is a component of fashion media, with a focus on writing and photojournalism. Fashion journalists write about fashion events, trends and have to cultivate and maintain a relationship with stylists and designers. A fashion journ ...

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...

- Vietnam edition in November 2020 edition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ong, Angelia 1990 births Living people Binibining Pilipinas contestants De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde alumni Filipino people of Chinese descent Miss Earth 2015 contestants Miss Earth winners Miss Philippines Earth winners People from Iloilo City People from Manila Star Magic Visayan people VJs (media personalities) Participants in Philippine reality television series StarStruck (Philippine TV series) participants