Blame it on the stress?
Bellatrix Tan, Miss Zamboanga of the recently-concluded 2016 Miss Earth Philippines, became an online sensation thanks to her unusual answer during the pageant.
READ: Ms. Zamboanga’s Q&A response on Miss Earth competition goes viral
During a segment that asked the contestants to elaborate on environmental and social issues, Bellatrix was givein a chance to share her views on weather-related phenomena El Niño and La Niña.
“El Niño, La Niña. El Niño is what we are facing right now. If we do simple things like planting trees… we will not experience drought, right? If we start now, we will achieve La Niña,” she said.
Naturally, netizens went wild over her answer. It did not help that Miss Earth Philippines is a beauty pageant that promotes environmental awareness.
In an interview with DZMM radio program Sakto on Mon, Jun 13, the 20-year-old aspiring beauty queen said she really knows what El Niño and La Niña are. She just got confused.
Bellatrix also noted this is the first time she joined a national beauty pageant.
“Masaya pero sobrang tense talaga, kasi nga po first national pageant,” Bellatrix said. “Sobrang nakaka-tense po talaga.”
(“It’s fun but I felt tense, because it was my first national pageant.”)
“Yung sa question ko po talaga is, I know po talaga yung El Niño saka La Niña .Yung El Niño is drought, sa La Niña naman po, heavy rain. Nung na-realize ko na mali pala yung pag-deliver ko, yung pag-answer, biglang nag-blank na ako,” she further explained.
(“I know what El Niño and La Niña are. El Niño is drough. La Niña, heavy rain. When I realized I gave the wrong answer, I blanked out.”)
So what exactly went wrong? “Ewan ko po, hindi ko ma-explain,” she said.
(“I don’t know. I can’t explain.”)
During her Sakto interview, Bellatrix did offer an alternate answer to her now-infamous beauty pageant question.
“El Niño, La Niña are both effects of climate change. If we don’t do our part, we will really experience drought and heavy rainfall. So act now so we can achieve a better future. Thank you,” Bellatrix said.
Top marks! Good job!
If you can look past her botched answer, Bellatrix is actually quite pretty. Look at some of her photos below.
We dare say Bellatrix still has a future in the beauty pageant circuit if she continues her dream to become a beauty queen. Imperfect answers in beauty pageants aren’t always deal breakers. Just ask Maxine Medina.
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