World peace may be a common aspiration among beauty queens in the Miss Universe pageant, but it’s not one shared by President Duterte—at least not where American TV host Steve Harvey is concerned.
The President apparently still holds a grudge against Harvey who infamously read the wrong name when he announced the winner in the pageant last year, and effectively robbed Binibining Pilipinas Universe Pia Wurtzbach of her moment of glory as 2015 Miss Universe.
Mr. Duterte will block the decision of the Miss Universe organization to get Harvey as anchor of the prestigious pageant that will be held in the country early next year, Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo said.
“That’s not happening,” Teo quoted the President as telling her when informed of Harvey’s presence in the contest.
Mr. Duterte also told her he was going “to talk to Miss Universe (officials) because I don’t want him to be the host of the (pageant),” the tourism official said, adding that the President “was not laughing,” when he said that.
“So he may be serious,” Teo said.
In a bind
The President’s disapproval of Harvey’s role in the pageant puts her in a bind, Teo said, as the TV host had already signed a five-year contract with the Miss Universe organization to serve as anchor in the contest.
As to what could happen to Harvey if he insisted on hosting the event, Teo said, “That’s my problem up to now.”
Harvey gained worldwide notoriety when he erroneously announced that Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez had won the Miss Universe 2015 crown during the pageant held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December last year.
Moments after the announcement, the host skulked back onstage and admitted the gaffe as he told the stunned audience inside Planet Hollywood that it was actually Miss Philippines who was adjudged the winner.
Wurtzbach’s historic, albeit controversial, victory ended the country’s 42-year title drought in the international beauty competition.
Teo said the 2016 edition of the beauty contest would be held in at least five cities in the country from Jan. 13 to 30, 2017, with the coronation night to be held at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Venues
Prepageant contests and events will be held in the cities of Davao, Cebu, Iloilo and Vigan, while all other activities before the coronation night will be done in hotels to avoid causing traffic and inconvenience to the public, she added.
Teo said vendors and street-dwellers would be taken off the streets of Metro Manila during the entire duration of the pageant. Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo would lead the efforts to clear the streets of “eyesores,” “but in a more humane way,” the tourism official said.
Teo also assured the public that the government would not spend a single centavo for holding the pageant in the Philippines.
She said a group led by former Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson had promised to raise the $11-million competition fee, and that Singson “had already raised half of that (amount) as required by the Miss Universe (as) down payment.”
Terrorism threat
Teo said the Department of Tourism was also coordinating with the National Security Council on the threat of the international terrorist group Islamic State to launch attacks during the pageant.
“I’m sure that after the Miss Universe (contest), the Philippines will be on the world map. Everybody will be looking at us because… all the beautiful places (and) destinations will be featured,” she said. “And the candidates will be going around the country, she added.”