How Yllana Aduaa walks the talk on environment

By Nathalie tomada Philstar.com

NEWLY-CROWNED Miss Earth

Philippines 2023 Yllana Marie Aduana started her reign visiting the coastal town of Sulat, Eastern Samar, to join a cleanup drive in celebration of the Month of the Ocean this May.

On the sidelines of the event, the 24-year-old beauty from Siniloan, Laguna shared in a one-on-one with The STAR that more activities like this can be expected from her together with Miss Earth Philippines and her own nonprofit Edukasyon for Every Juan.

She said she intends to maximize “this platform to tell people about the environmental situation that we’re experiencing.”

“That’s what I want to do — to spread awareness because it all starts educating people, that you’re able to inspire them, to discover the power that they have to create something and to utilize that ‘superpower’ within them to help fight issues like climate change.”

After Sulat, Eastern Samar, they plan to do an ocean cleanup drive in Batangas.

On what can be expected from her reign, she shared: “I really know myself to be hardworking so I’m really much committed to everything that I do. What I’m going to do is, of course, to strengthen my advocacy of (environmental) education. I will still continue to do the colloquiums about the 17 sustainable development goals, at the same time, their interconnectedness to nature.

“More than that, I’m planning more environmental projects and initiatives such as the ocean cleanup drives, waste cleanup drives, tree-planting. And now, I feel more strengthened because I’m not doing it alone, I’m doing it with my Elemental Queens. I can also work with my organization and tap other eco-sisters that I have in my batch. We can do all these environmental things together.”

Yllana isn’t just spouting big words about the environment, she’s been walking the talk. Her pageant journey purposely began and will end with Miss Earth Philippines because, as she said, her heart is really with the pageant’s environmental objectives and causes.

“I’m really passionate about the environment. I really take time to study it and read about it so I can also inform others and inject my knowledge (whenever I have the opportunity),” said.

Yllana is a medical laboratory scientist and a certified drug analyst. She also works as a model and she has been running the non-profit organization Edukasyon for Every Juan. She studied at Centro Escolar University, where she was a consistent dean’s lister and a scholar.

“We’re not affluent as a family, but my parents would always tell me that education is the greatest gift that they can give me. So I really took advantage of it,” she said.

“We were really able to rise above many, many challenges because of that.” people are thinking, I just go about my way, showing them who I really am.

“With my final Q&A, if I may share, some people were telling me that I use high-falutin words all the time… it’s also one of the challenges (I had). Sabi ko, this is really me, something that’s really innate to me, so I asked my bosses do I have to ‘regulate’ it, but they said, that’s you, you don’t have to pretend and lower down whatever you have so that you can please people. Kasi when you do Q&A, you have to be authentic and that’s my authentic self.”

If she’s not busy with Miss Earth Philippines, Yllana said, “I just stay at home and I read more. Sometimes, I watch movies, sometimes I watch Netflix to relax and unwind. I don’t really go out that much. Sometimes, I invite friends over. I’m a home person. I try as much as I can to regain my energy, when I don’t perform my responsibilities. So that when I go about my duties, I’ll be 100-percent energized ulit,” she shared.

“My favorite book now is You Can Save The Earth (by Sean K. Smith). It’s about the environment pa rin. I really love learning about it because I feel like you need to equip yourself with the right tools, for example, the things that you can read, and through exposure to the environment and the community, you will really become more passionate about it.”

She’s also open to showbiz and not shy to admit that her childhood dream is to become an artista