KAREN IBASCO of the Philippines was crowned Miss Earth 2017 last night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City — the Philippines’ fourth Miss Earth crown.

Ibasco bested 84 other ladies from across the world in this search for beautiful warriors of Mother Earth.

Ecuador’s Katherine Espin, last year’s titleholder, crowned Ibasco, a medical physicist and professor at the University of Santo Tomas.

While fans from other countries raised eyebrows at the Philippines’ latest win, we don’t think Ibasco or the Philippine-based Miss Earth organization deserve any blame for it — she was the strongest finalist by far, especially in the Q&A rounds.

Miss Earth 2017 is Karen Ibasco of the Philippines

For the first segment of the Q&A, the Top 8 finalists were asked to express their thoughts on a hashtag that they had picked out of a bowl. Karen, after picking the hashtag #biodiversity said: “Biodiversity is very important. We are very known in the Philippines to have a lot of biodiversity, and they’re very important because they also balances the ecosystem. It’s very important for us to protect them, because as we protect them, we protect the environment to help save our home, our planet, our Earth, to be a better place to live in. Thank you.”

During the final question, Ibasco was asked who or what she thinks is the biggest enemy of Mother Earth and why to which she answered: “I believe that the real problem in this world is not climate change. The real problem is us because of our ignorance and apathy. What we have to do is to start changing our ways, to start recalibrating our minds and redirecting our steps because together, as a global community, our micro-efforts will have a macro-effect to help save our home, our planet.”

Joining Ibasco’s elemental queens (of equal footings) are Australia’s Nina Robertson as Miss Earth Air 2017, Russia’s Lada Akimova as Miss Earth Fire 2017 and Colombia’s Juliana Franco as Miss Earth Water 2017.

Other Filipina Miss Earth queens: Angelia Ong, who won in 2015, following Jamie Herrel’s win in 2014, and Karla Henry, who first brought home the crown for the Philippines in 2008.

It was a fair win, in our view — she clearly captured the hearts of that night’s judges, a panel of competent, credible names from across the world.

The Miss Earth winner is chosen based on the following criteria: Beauty of Face (35%), Poise (10%), Figure and Form (20%), Intelligence (30%), and Attitude (5%). Each category has its own sets of judges prior to the finals night.

Karen Ibasco won the hearts of the judges. She won the night. She won Miss Earth 2017. Deal with it.