Ms. Earth-Canada 2017 is also half-Ormocana

ORMOC CITY, Philippines — Ormoc is “The City of Beautiful People” and it has a daughter, half-Ormocana Jacqueline Juntilla Marsh, Miss Earth-Canada 2017, who will be vying for the Miss Earth 2017 title at the Mall of Asia on November 4.

She was in this city last week to touch base with her relatives here. She also went to the City Hall to pay a courtesy call on city officials, and then visited the Libertad Elementary School where she talked to the young pupils about caring for the environment.

Jacqueline, who stands 5”11,’ is the daughter of Teresita Juntilla, a native of Barangay Libertad in Ormoc. She is the reigning Miss Ontario titleholder, before she joined the Ms. Earth-Canada pageant, where she bested 11 other candidates, two of whom were Fil-Canadians also.

The Fil-Canadian beauty, however, is not a stranger to Ormoc as she and her family would often “come home since I was six years old.”

She also went around Leyte to meet the mayors and provincial officials, among them Vice Governor Carlo Loreto and Police Regional Office-8 Director, Chief Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, to ask for their support.

Jacqueline said her personal advocacy is “water conservation.” She said her family lives near Lake Superior, “one of the great lakes, and we don’t really have to worry about droughts, and running out of clean water. But it also means we have to use the resource carefully, and not abuse it, just because it is on our fingertips.”

For the coming pageant, Jacqueline said, “I am honestly excited and just hope to do my best.” She also asked Ormocanons and Leyteños to follow her Facebook and Instagram accounts, with the hope of bagging the People’s Choice award, if ever there is one. (FREEMAN)