After a flurry of kick-off activities which included a coastal clean-up, an environmental seminar, and a more-intimate-than-usual welcome party, the Miss Earth 2019 delegates were finally introduced to the press at a luncheon held in Diamond Hotel, Manila. 79 out of the 85 earthly ambassadresses participated in the midday affair. Notably absent were Misses Dominican Republic, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, who were all still in transit en route to the country, and Miss Denmark, Sara Langtved, who had to rest on account of illness. There has yet to be final confirmation regarding the participation of Misses Haiti and Zimbabwe, as of this writing.
In a departure from recent practice, the ladies came out in colorful cocktail dresses in lieu of swimsuits. And in keeping with this year’s floral theme, they incorporated tidbits about their countries’ national flowers in their spiels. They were presented, one by one, by hosts Alexandra Marie Dayrit (Miss Fire Philippines 2019), Chelsea Lovely Fernandez (Miss Water Philippines 2019), and Ana Monica Tan (Miss Air Philippines 2019) in continental order:
Pageant Geeks 