Binibining Pilipinas International 2025

 A dream fulfilled

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

After winning Binibining Pilipinas 2023 1st runner-up, Davao representative Katrina Anne Johnson took awhile to decide if she'll rejoin the Binibini pageant in pursuit of her, and her mother's dream, of becoming a Binibini queen. When she realized that the age ceiling was fast creeping upon her, she pushed the green button to her 2025 pageant journey.

The ICA rules state that a representative to the Miss International pageant should not be over 28 years old at the time of the selection. Fortunately, Kat will turn 28 in January 2026, months before her competition but within the prescriptive period.

Kat started her pageant journey as a campus contestant in her freshman year at the University of Immaculate Conception in Davao City, representing her college as a Pharmacy student. When she won that contest, she represented her school in the Association of Public & Private Schools, Colleges, and Universities (APPSCU) of Region 11 competition. When she won that same contest, she represented the association in the Davao-wide search and, luckily, won again.

She finished her Pharmacy degree in 2019 and passed the board exams thereafter. Plans to pursue graduate studies are held in abeyance; until after her contractual obligations are through.

This brought her to her first national search, winning as Miss Silka Davao, and eventually winning Miss Silka Philippines in 2016. Albeit a TV-based competition, this gave Kat the experience on how it would be like to compete on a national level. 

And so, fast forward to 2025, when she finally won as the 61st Binibining Pilipinas International titleholder. Yet, her time to compete will be in 2026 still. For now, she's preparing for her Tokyo journey next year.

Her advice to entrants on a limited budget is to, like her, learn to do their own makeup and styling as this is one of the bigger expenses an aspirant incurs, especially if the pageant's events require more frequency. "It's a practical way to cut corners," she advises.

During her recent visits to a number of publication outfits as part of their media tour after coronation night, Kat shared her experiences, as well as her plans, for the Miss International pageant.

Kat was honored recently, together with Binibining Pilipinas International 2024 Myrna Esguerra and Miss Supranational 2025 1st runner-up Anna Valencia Lakrini, as one of Best Magazine's Outstanding Men & Women of the Philippines in 2025 at the Music Museum in Greenhills, San Juan.