A young beauty queen with an eco-friendly heart: Get to know Bb. Pilipinas International 2024 Myrna Esguerra
Binibining 40 may be the last candidate, but she's definitely not the least.
Myrna Esguerra of Abra was crowned this year's Bb. Pilipinas International at the recently concluded 60th Binibining Pilipinas held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, July 7.
The 22-year-old beauty queen, who bested 39 other contestants, will represent the country in the Miss International 2025 pageant, which will be held on November 12 in Tokyo, Japan. She was crowned by her predecessor, Bb. Pilipinas International 2023 Angelica Lopez.
Meanwhile, Pampanga's Jasmin Bungay was hailed as Bb. Pilipinas Globe. This year's runners-up include Christal Dela Cruz of Zambales and returning contestant Trisha Martinez of Pila, Laguna.
Despite her age, Myrna has been making a significant impact in the public eye as an accomplished model, event organizer, and host, consistently dazzling those around her with her talents.
To know more about Myrna, continue reading below.
This year's "Hakot" Queen
During this year's competition, Myrna Esguerra stood out as she earned the title of "hakot" queen, bagging five special awards in addition to the crown. Her performance earned her the titles of Best in Swimsuit and Evening Gown as well as the Urban Smiles Dental Clinic Award and the Binibining Philippine Airlines Award.
Additionally, Myrna Esguerra's impeccable display and grace secured her a place among the Top 5 Best in National Costume.
Beauty and Brain
During the question and answer portion, Myrna received actress and Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran's question, asking what message she would tell the Filipino women of 1964 about the women of 2024.
The beauty queen focused her answer on how today's Filipinas have achieved the goal of empowerment.
"I will tell them to the women of the past that we have achieved our goal, which is to empower women, standing here at the age of 17, I started to finance for my own studies and help my family financially. I was able to do this by all those women who paved the way to empower us to always reach for our goals, no matter what it is. Because in life, we can all achieve our dreams as long as we believe that we can and thanks to them all. Thank you," she said.
An environmentalist
Myrna Esguerra passionately devotes herself to leveraging her platform to advocate for environmental preservation and sustainability. She is committed to taking concrete actions to safeguard the planet for the benefit of future generations.
Myrna's tourism video proudly presents her Abrenian roots and urges people to explore and admire the beauty of her hometown. It highlights Mount Bullagao, also recognized as the Sleeping Beauty of Abra, as an essential and historic destination that you must visit.
Moreover, Myrna worked with the National Cleanup Coalition Philippines, a coalition of cleanup groups, government agencies, and local government units nationwide. According to her, caring for the environment is more important now than ever, as we've experienced an extreme heat wave in the summer, to the point that the governments are suspending classes.
"For me, that shows how important and serious real global warming is," she said in her introductory video.
Through Bb. Pilipinas, Myrna wanted to reach as many people as she could to help them take action and protect their homes. She believes that all that matters to us now doesn't really matter if the Earth is slowly deteriorating.
Three interesting facts about Myrna
In one of her videos during the pageant's preliminary activities, the Abrenian beauty queen revealed three interesting facts about herself. One of these is that she believes she has the "power to make things happen." For instance, when she was 17, she wanted to learn how to drive a manual car, and after three days, she learned to do so.
Moreover, she disclosed that she was afraid of public speaking when she was young, yet she is now an event host.
Lastly, she has a total of 16 siblings.