Fil-German Palaweña wins early Miss Philippines Earth awards

Fil-German Palaweña wins early Miss Philippines Earth awards
By JAY PATAO
Photos by Edmund Chua

FILIPINO-GERMAN beauty Imelda Bautista Schweighart, 21, from Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, took home two awards from the special swimsuit show of the 16th Miss Philippines Earth Pageant held at Aquaboy Resort in Novaliches, Quezon City last Friday.
Schweighart a.k.a. Imee Hart, a 5’6” Theater Arts student and a semi-finalist at the 50th Bb. Pilipinas pageant in 2013, easily bested 34 other contestants representing cities and municipalities throughout the country as well as Filipino communities abroad, to win the two titles at stake: Miss Philippines Earth Aquaboy and Miss Lady Grace Intimate Apparel. Her measurements read 34-24-35.
Imee was born on May 29, 1995 in Limasol, Cyprus to Gunther Schweighart, a German shipping line technician, and Annabeth Bautista, a Filipina. She was raised and schooled in Puerto Princesa City. Imee has appeared in a number of MTVs and teleseryes and has co-hosted the now defunct “Will Time Big Time” on TV5.

Imee’s main environmental advocacy is soil protection against chemically-engineered seeds. She said that “the fuel that drives her to become the next Miss Philippines Earth is Mother Earth’s cry for help.”
The 35 contestants introduced themselves on stage in colorful summer outfits before parading in swimsuits before a panel of judges that included Aquaboy Resort owner Atty. Fidel Exconde and Century Tuna Superbods 2014 winner Sarah Polverini. Aquaboy, a popular resort billed as “a hidden paradise” in the heart of bustling Fairview, Quezon City hosted the special show, the first of a series of preliminary events of the advocacy-driven pageant and served as a preview of the awaited press presentation of the 48 contestants at Diamond Hotel Manila on Monday (the rest of the delegates from the Visayas and Mindanao will arrive in Manila in time for Monday’s press event).
The winner will succeed Miss Philippines Earth 2015 Angelia Gabrena Ong who is also the reigning Miss Earth, the third Filipina to win the coveted title in the pageant’s 16-year-history. She will be crowned along with her court of “elements” during the grand coronation night to be held at Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite on June 12 (to be aired over ABS-CBN).