My schedule has been so busy because of a teleserye that I’m shooting so I completely missed watching Glennifer Perido and Eva Psychee Patalinjug win the top 2 titles in Mutya ng Pilipinas 2014. Congrats to them both! But rest assured that the blogging beauty queen KNOWS whats going on!
Meantime, I got to see the Bb. Pilipinas 2014 winners yesterday (August 11, 2014) and I must say that they are all looking fabulous are ready for their respective international tilts! Here’s what went on…
Bb. Pilipinas 2014 Circle of Crown Winners – Yveth Marie Santiago, Kris Tiffany Janson, MJ Lastimosa, Bianca Guidotti, Parul Shah
Finally, a break from work to check out the ribbon cutting ceremony of Manila Water’s new Toka Toka campaign with the winners of Bb. Pilipinas 2014 as guests of honor! It was held at the activity center of Gateway Mall in Cubao.
The beauties in attendance were: Bb Pilipinas Tourism 2014 Parul Shah, Bb Pilipinas Supranational 2014 Yvethe Marie Santiago, Bb Pilipinas Intercontinental 2014 Kris Tiffany Janson, Bb Pilipinas International 2014 Bianca Guidotti and Miss Philippines Universe 2014 MJ Lastimosa.
Bb. Pilipinas 2014 1st Runner up Laura Lehman is such a funny girl!
Bb Pilipinas 2014 1st Runner-up Laura Lehman did the hosting duties. The girl has a natural funny-ness about her which makes her a good choice to wield the microphone. Laura had me and my seatmate, beauty-queen-turned-journalist, Patricia Fernandez in giggles!
My seatmates – Pageant journalist Jay Patao, beauty queen Patricia Fernandez and moi
The beauty that I did miss was Bb Pilipinas 2nd Runner-up Hannah Ruth Sison who was absent from today’s event.
So, what’s this Toka Toka thing?
Well, in a nutshell, its an environmental project by Manila Water which aims to clean and revitalize used water from households and return it, good as new, to the rivers. The goal is to turn soapy, scummy, sludgy water into water that is good enough for fish and other river creatures (like mermaids and manatees) to live and thrive in it!!! Target rivers are the Marikina, Pasig and San Juan Rivers.
Beauties having fun at the Toka Toka ribbon cutting ceremony. L-R Bianca Guidotti, MJ Lastimosa and Yvethe Santiago!
Since I’m from Marikina, the Toka Toka campaign is important to me. I occasionally take my dogs for a walk on the riverbanks of the Marikina River and am all too familiar with its murky, dark waters… Eeeeewwww. To see my hometown’s river back to its original beauty would be a dream come true!
Now going back to the campaign: the Toka Toka part comes in when you and I, the water consumers, share in the effort. Ano ang Toka natin? What is our contribution to the campaign? According to Regina Unson, Advocacy Manager of Manila Water, there are four basic ‘Tokas’ or contributions we can make. Even doing just one or two of the following is a big help:
1) Segregate your waste.
2) Have your Poso Negro (Septic Tanks) cleaned out every 5 years.
3) Connect your home to Manila Water’s sewer network.
4) Spread the word!
Bb. Pilipinas 2014 beauties dance with Kuya Pat, Manila Water’s mascot (he’s behind the girls on the stage)!
The technology involved in cleaning used water from households is very expensive but with Manila Water’s water trwatment facility and customers making ‘toka-toka’, we may yet see clean rivers in the city once again.
Manila Water is the concessionaire that services the eastern side of Metro Manila. To find out more about how you can be part of the Toka Toka campaign, follow Manila Water on Facebook and Twitter!
If you often drop by the Gateway Mall you can also visit the Toka Toka educational gallery which can be viewed from August 11-17, 2014 at the mall’s activity center.
And now… it’s time to cut the ribbon!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
