Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach
AFTER 22 long years, it’s finally happening! The Miss Universe pageant will be held in the Philippines.
Department of Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo with reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach confirmed the hosting of the international beauty tilt in a press conference in Makati held yesterday.
“I would like to inform everybody that the Miss Universe pageant will be on January 30, 2017 in the Philippines. The government is not going to spend any single centavo. It will be the private sector who would shoulder the expenses,” said Teo.
The announcement came as a surprise as rumors circulated that the hosting will not push through since President Duterte is hesitant and is not willing to shell out anything coming from the government’s money for the pageant.
Earlier this month, Wurtzbach flew back to the Philippines to discuss with President Rodrigo Duterte the possibility of holding the next Miss Universe grand coronation night in the Philippines.
According to a Rappler report, Japanese billionaire chief of Tiger resort, Kazuo Okada, and country’s richest man, Henry Sy, are among the sponsors of the pageant who will shoulder the expenses from the hosting to the production.
According to Teo, an administrative order has yet to be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte to officially seal the the country’s hosting of Miss Universe next year.
It was in 1994 when the country last hosted the prestigious pageant. The pageant was won by Sushmita Sen of India. The Philippines’ representative was former actress Charlene Gonzalez.
Maxine Medina, Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2016, will represent the country in the pageant.
