Laguna’s Leren Mae Bautista is Miss Tourism Queen of the Year!

Laguna’s Leren Mae Bautista is Miss Tourism Queen of the Year!
By JAY PATAO
Photos by Melvin Sia & missosology.org
MUTYA ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific International 2015 Leren Mae Magnaye Bautista, 23, arrived last Saturday from Malaysia after winning the Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International 2015-2016 last New Year’s Eve at Putrajaya Marriott Hotel, Putrajaya, south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
Leren was welcomed at the airport by Mutya ng Pilipinas Pageant officials, her family including her mother Letty Magnaye-Bautista, and members of media.

Bautista, a 5’8” beauty from Los Baños, Laguna, bested 56 other delegates worldwide succeeding Warangkanang Wutthayakorn of Thailand and became the third Filipina to win the coveted crown after Sheryl Capili Santarin (1996) and Racquel Tentoco Uy (1999).

For the final coronation night, Bautista wore a beaded yellow gold evening gown and a Filipiniana costume made from bamboo tubes, both creations of San Pablo City designer Chico Estiva.
Four subtitles were also awarded to Uganda’s Sheila Kirabo (Miss Tourism Metropolitan International), Lithuania’s Irmina Presegalaviciute (Miss Tourism Global International), Icelands’s Tanya Yr Asthorsdottir (Miss Tourism Cosmopolitan International) and India’s Chandhi Sharma (Dream Girl of the Year International).

A Marketing Management graduate of Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba, Bautista held the title of Binibining Laguna in 2014 before winning at the Mutya ng Pilipinas Pageant last August en route to her victorious campaign in Malaysia. She also won two special awards: Miss Trendsetter and Best in Catwalk.

Miss Tourism Queen of the Year International is one of two major pageants organized by D’Touch Productions under Malaysian impresario Tan Sri Datuk Danny Ooi, the other being Miss Tourism International which the Philippines has also won thrice: in 2000, 2012 and 2013.
With the Malaysia pageant culminating on New Year’s Eve, Bautista capped 2015 following historic victories in other pageant fronts namely: Ann Lorraine Colis, Miss Globe 2015 in Toronto, Canada last October 8; Angelia Gabrena Ong, Miss Earth 2015 in Vienna, Austria last December 5; and Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach who became the third Filipina Miss Universe in Las Vegas last December 20.
Wurtzbach, who is now based in the Miss Universe Organization’s headquarters in New York City, is expected to return to Manila for a grand homecoming later this month.