SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – Miss Teen International 2018 second runner up Alysa Aaron Mandahuyan Esponilla is a proud Antiqueña, who hails from Barangay Bari in Sibalom town.
Alysa, who is only 16 years old and a fourth year high school student in the Regional Pilot School for the Arts in Angono, Rizal, said in an interview Monday that she is very happy to bring the honor to her home province after the competition last July 26, 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
“I am a proud Antiqueña having spent half of my life in Sibalom,”she said.
She said she was born in Antique and has earned her early education in a private school in Sibalom.
She further said that as a visual artist, she wants to advocate “Arts for Awareness” among teenagers like her.
“I want the youth to love art,” she said.
Alysa said that she wants to pursue her education by taking up Fine Arts course in the future while modeling on the side.
She said that her father hails from Barangay Bari in Sibalom and the son of Florentino Esponilla, who is known to have popularized gemstones or the semi-precious stones picked from the Sibalom River, which he turns into fine jewelry like necklace and rings.
Alysa competed with other 40 teenagers internationally.
She came to the Antique capitol Monday to thank the provincial government for the support given to her. (Annabel Consuelo Petinglay/PNA)
