Cynthia Thomalla leaves for Miss Eco International in Egypt

CEBU, Philippines — It’s been a long past six months for Cynthia Magpatoc Thomalla, but all the waiting is about to come to an end as she flies to Cairo, Egypt in the hopes of becoming the new Miss Eco International title-holder.

The last to compete among the Miss World Philippines (MWP) 2017 winners, Cynthia is tasked to put all that she’s prepared for to the test as she tries to claim one more meaningful crown for the Philippines after being crowned Miss Eco-Philippines during MWP last September where she represented Cebu City.

Her MWP “queen sisters” had a bountiful journey: Despite Miss World Philippines 2017 Laura Lehmann falling short in her international battle, Reina Hispoanoamericana Filipinas 2017 Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez, and Miss Multinational Philippines 2017 Sophia Senoron came through with back-to-back wins. They both went on to clinch the Reina Hispanoamericana 2018 and Miss Mutinational 2018 titles, respectively.

A 23-year-old Tourism and Events Management graduate from STI Maasin, Chay – as Cynthia is fondly called by family and close friends – will compete with more than 70 candidates from all over the world.

Founded by the LTCP-UN project, the competition was previously known as Miss Eco Queen in 2015, Miss Eco Universe in 2016, and eventually rebranded as Miss Eco International last year.

Miss Eco International advocates for tourism and environment. As the crowned winner, whosoever clinches the title will be a champion for eco-tourism worldwide. She is tasked to instill values about the safety and protection of the planet and its resources through an exchange of culture in an international level as a way of spreading tourism and environmental awareness – something that’s very fitting with Cynthia’s interests.

The pageant has been hosted by Egypt for three consecutive years now and will commence on April 27 at Egypt’s Cairo Opera House. Amber Bernachi of Canada currently holds the title.

In a send-off event last April 6 in Manila, Cynthia talked about her preparations and expectations for the competition, as well as her advocacy on responsible tourism as summer kicks off in the Philippines.

“My preparation was more on mental. I was trying to prepare myself to be alone in Egypt for three weeks, adapt to the culture and with the 70 other girls,” the Southern Leyte native quips.

Her close friend Maggie Wilson, who won Binibining Pilipinas World in 2007, helped her with styling, personality development, and taught her a few makeup hacks.

“I think there’s always room for improvement. I can and I will improve in everything: in walking, socializing with the girls, understanding their culture and personalities.”

The Filipina-German looker has also tried to learn Arabic, picking up a few words and expressions in Egypt’s native tongue.

As an avid traveller, the Reyna ng Aliwan 2016 title-holder expressed her concern on how tourists tend to behave while they are on vacation. She spoke about the six-month temporary closure of Boracay and the need to be an example to fellow travel junkies.

“It should be the traveler who should be responsible for their trash. If they’re traveling, they should know how to pick up their trash and throw it properly. Everyone should be aware of how to take care of our planet because we only have one planet. Everyone should be an eco-warrior and be environment-friendly,” Cynthia states.

“I’m really close to this advocacy because I love to travel. I want the world, the travelers, to know how to be responsible when traveling like bringing metallic straws to lessen the use of plastic, and also helping the locals when it comes to the environment,” the sustainable tourism advocate adds.

For her Eco video, Cynthia returned to Southern Leyte, where she enticed viewers with what the province has to offer. She also expressed her excitement in experiencing and sharing the culture of Egypt through her Miss Eco International journey. In the video, the Anne Hathaway lookalike posed and showed the stunning views of Manila, Ormoc City, Palawan and Davao Oriental.

“I respect the decision they made,” says Cynthia of Boracay’s six-month closure. “I think it is timely. We all should know that we should take care of Mother Earth. I went to Boracay last January and I felt that we need to do something. I think closing it for some months will be good for the ocean rejuvenate and to rehabilitate the natural resources.”

During her send-off press conference, Cynthia couldn’t dodge the issue of her being dragged into the narrative involving her beauty queen friends Maggie Wilson and Miss International 2013 Bea Santiago regarding their comments about newly crowned Miss Universe Philippines Catriona Gray’s Best in Swimsuit award. Maggie and Bea both expressed their opinions of Catriona winning the award online, saying that despite supporting and acknowledging Gray’s potential, they didn’t agree with the result.

This didn’t sit well with Catriona’s fans. The beauty queens’ online exchange eventually drew flak, quickly escalating to hate comments directed towards Maggie and Bea. This prompted Maggie to address the situation via her Instagram story, where she tagged Catriona’s handle—calling out the “nasty” behavior exhibited by her fans. Getting wind of the discourse, Catriona also addressed the issue on her Instagram stories, reminding people to not be “overly sensitive,” and to just focus on positivity.

Somehow, being close friends with Maggie, Cynthia was dragged into the issue, with Catriona’s fans coming for the latter as well.

“I think it’s unfair that I got into the situation. But it’s really sad because my friends, they started to apologize to me even if like, ‘Why would you apologize to me when you didn’t do anything?’ Regarding the criticism, it doesn’t bother me at all because I know myself better than those who are saying something about me,” says Cynthia. “I’m a bit worried about what the organizers in Egypt might think. But so far, everything is positive, and everything’s going well.”

MWP general manager Bessie Besana and MWP national director Arnold Vegafria expressed their sentiments on the issue, saying that Cynthia should not retaliate because there is nothing to be guilty of. They called on pageant fans to put all this behind them and rally in support of Cynthia who will represent not only her beauty camp, but the entire Philippines.

“I think that it’s a bit unfair to judge a person on a comment that’s not directly towards a certain issue,” Besana says. “So sabi ko sa kanya, wala tayo magagawa, iyon ang perception ng fans. The best way to deal with it is to keep quiet kasi you’re not guilty.”

"I hope the bashers or fans of Catriona should not involve Cynthia because she has nothing to do with that thing,” Vegafria adds. “The most important is she will perform well during the competition and I hope those bashers will support your candidate because she is representing the Philippines.”

As for Cynthia, now that she’s officially starting her Miss Eco International journey, she hopes Filipinos would come together and cheer for her as she competes in the name of the Philippines.

“I hope everyone will support and pray for me. I hope that they also vote for me online because the winner of the Miss Multimedia [award] will be included in the Top 25. But most importantly, prayers,” she says.