How Katrina Johnson, Annabelle McDonnell plan to use their P1M cash prize

June 20 ------ For its 60th anniversary last year, the Binibining Pilipinas pageant surprised many when it awarded P1 million in cash to each of the two winners. And the amount of the prize money remained the same for this year’s edition. Binibining Pilipinas International Katrina Anne Johnson and Binibining Pilipinas Globe Annabelle McDonnell did not just become queens when they won their crowns, they also became instant millionaires.

INQUIRER.net was the first media group to sit with the ladies after that fateful evening, during their official photoshoot held at the Araneta City in Quezon City. “I just slept. I didn’t wear heels for the day,” Johnson shared when asked how her first day as a Binibining Pilipinas queen went. She was first runner-up in 2023, and her cash prize back then was not as big. She also said she had dinner with her father, Christopher, who flew 16 hours from the United States to watch the pageant. The last time they were together was when she made the decision to return to Bb. Pilipinas. Johnson also celebrated with some of her 2023 Binibining Pilipinas sisters, together with her team and friends. “They’re my core group of people. They’ve known me from even before. They know Katrina outside of pageantry,” she said.

McDonnell, on the other had, started her day early. “My body clock is set at 7 A.M. every single day, regardless,” she shared, and said she and her uncle reviewed videos from the coronation night, from different people and taken from different angles. “I tried to reply to as many messages as possible, they are a lot. Andami pang tambak na messages (I still have many morre messages). Slowly but surely I’m replying to everything,” she added, all this while enjoying meals with her uncle, something they were not able to do as the competition was nearing, because of nerves and anxiety.

McDonnell also had dinner with her Aces and Queens pageant camp, and a team from Bacolod who helped with her national costume. “Most of them have been with me for most of my pageant career. We all had dinner together in Makati in this retro themed diner, so it was fun,” she said.

Advocacy work, pageant dreams

Johnson, meanwhile, shared that she plans to use most of her prize money for her Miss International journey. “I’m expecting myself to start planning as early as I can to really make sure I come up with the best outputs and the best self that I could possibly be,” she said. Aside from spending for her outfits, training, and other pageant necessities, Johnson said she will set aside an amount for her advocacy work. “Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, I’m planning to do that,” she said.

The Miss International pageant promotes “sustainability in pageantry,” and encourages the participants to work on projects that promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.

McDonnell is even more forward looking, setting her sights beyond pageantry and thinking of ways to secure a more stable life in the future. “I will also definitely be putting away majority of my winnings. But this time I think I’m starting to look into what I could do to invest, make it grow, just so that it’s not stagnant as well,” she shared. “And I really encourage young people to do the same. Because, in our 20s we don’t feel like it. It doesn’t feel real. But we eventually retire,” McDonnell continued, adding that she is boosting her financial literacy. “I’m asking help from my boyfriend what the best investment should be. Probably gold, that’s bulletproof investment,” she said.

McDonnell is set to compete in The Miss Globe pageant in Albania in October, and try to become the third Filipino woman to win in the international contest’s current iteration. Johnson, on the other hand, still has more than a year to prepare for her fight. She will compete in the 64th Miss International pageant to be held in 2026.

Source: inquirer.net