YLLANA MARIE ADUANA

Age: 24
Height: 5 feet 7 inches
Measurements: 33 inches - 23 inches - 36 inches
Occupation/Education: Model and Actress

Describe your childhood/growing up years (8-13 years old):
I had a very amazing and enriching childhood spending time travelling back and forth Manila and Laguna. I studied in Manila but spent most of my weekends and summers in my province so I grew up adapting to both Rural and Urban environment and their cultures. Growing up, I always had the best summertime soaking in the sun and playing in our ricefields and paddies in Siniloan, Laguna called ‘Sinarol’. Also, in our yard, we had 2 very tall coconut trees and 4 palm trees. And fun fact, there’s this 1 coconut tree that I named “Coco” and the story behind that is; there was this one time that I was left alone in the house and I was crying and no one was there to listen to me but when I stared out the window and saw that tree, I felt like Coco was the instrument of God & nature to have someone listen to me at that moment. Even as a child, I really had a deep connection with nature and that is also why I decided to practice the Zero Waste and a Sustainable Lifestyle as my simple way to prevent the ecological collapse from happening.

What lessons did you learn from your childhood/growing years?
As a kid who used to spend her time playing in the rice paddies of the small town of Siniloan, I became friends with the kids who didn’t have so much in life. Most of them are offsprings of our reputable farmers. Seeing them have so much hope, happiness, and gratitude in their eyes despite the hardships of their situation and lacking the money and resources to get by always humbled me and I was able to carry that picture and learning growing up. We are not that affluent but my childhood compared to theirs is a much better vision. My parents also ingrained a lesson within me that education is really the greatest gift that they can give me and told me that one day, I can use that as an instrument to help other people and change the world. That’s why I was a consistent scholar in school and now using it to help people in the marginalized sector and also using education as a medium to help fight climate change through the seminars I organize.

Most memorable moment:
My most memorable moment was stepping into the world of pageantry for the first time in 2021. As you know, my first ever pageant was Miss Philippines Earth 2021 and it was in a virtual setup. I was self-taught and didn’t have any connection or proper trainings back then but all I know was that MPE is the pageant for me and I was genuine and knowledgeable enough to promote the advocacy of Miss Philippines Earth. I was serious when I told my teammates immediately after finishing as a runner up during MPE 2021 Coronation that “I am gonna go back to Miss Philippines Earth” and here I am! Pageantry really opened many doors of opportunities for me not only career-wise paving way for me to become a commercial, runway, print ad model, and TV actress but also paving way for me to create a platform that can help create an impact to the community and make my voice heard to help the environment.

Why do you want to be Miss Philippines Earth?
I wanna be Miss Philippines Earth 2023 because more than knowing from the very beginning that this is really what my heart wants, I know that I have the capacity and knowledge to wear the crown and perform the responsibilities of spreading awareness on climate reality, encourage people to be eco-friendlier and live the zero waste and a sustainable lifestyle, and most importantly, to take action to prevent ecological collapse and inspire other people through edifying them to do the same. More than anything, I am primed to be NOT a queen OF the Earth BUT a Queen FOR the Earth.

What is your environmental advocacy and why did you choose this?
My advocacy is called E.A.R.T.H. Education. Where E.A.R.T.H. stands for Environmental Awareness&Action to Restore and Transcend Home through Education. As an ardent advocate of education and the environment,I am firm to the fact that education is the solution to any problem there is on this planet. That’s why through my non- profit organization called Edukasyon for Every Juan, I will use it as my medium to help in the fight of climate change by organizing seminars and colloquims and educate people on climate reality. One specific approach to do that is through the framework I like to call, the POSITIVE BELEAF framework where P.O.S.I.T.I.V.E. stands for all the positive things we can do to be eco-friendlier and when performed, it will result to B.E.L.E.A.F. which stands for a set of positive outcome towards a greener planet.

What tip can you share to promote eco-tourism in your City or Municipality?
Last year, I was able to travel to all 24 majestic municipalities and 6 captivating cities of my province; the province of LAGUNA. We were able to film every single one of the places and we were all amazed to discover that our province is truly rich in natural resources and that there are so much unexplored potentials. As an eco-warrior by heart, I made the entire team including myself to pledge our best to leave the most minimal carbon footprint while doing HALINA, LAGUNA so I shared with them the TOUR strategy I came up with to promote sustainable eco- tourism. T stands for Take the moment, leave all else behind. O stands for Oplan Ecobag warriors. U for Utilize time to reserve energy and resources and lastly, R is for Respect the spot by practicing the 5Rs.