Chavit bares political side of Miss U hosting

The stakes were just too much—even for a bold risk-taker who stood to win millions of dollars—to let the opportunity slip away when President Duterte threw a tantrum.

The Miss Universe Organization (MUO) had initially canceled the country’s hosting of the 2016 franchise after President Rodrigo Duterte spouted expletives at then US President Barack Obama, according to businessman-politician Luis “Chavit” Singson.

At the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum on Wednesday, Singson also revealed that he could easily pocket $10 million in damages for the cancellation—on top of the $12-million franchise fee that would be returned to him—but he refused to file charges and asked the MUO to reconsider.

“It became political,” said the 75-year-old Singson, chair of the LCS Group of Companies, recalling that it was around that time when Mr. Duterte was making fiery speeches distancing himself from the United States and pushing for a stronger relations with regional giant China.

In October last year, rumors swirled that the Philippine hosting of the pageant would no longer push through, but this was vehemently denied by the Department of Tourism.

PH-US relations

On Wednesday, Singson said the icy relations between Washington and Manila had affected the MUO, whose owner was the sibling of Obama’s former chief of staff.

“I told them that the Philippines already made the full payment [for the franchise] and we signed the contract,” he said.

In the following meeting with Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo sometime last October, the MUO announced by speakerphone that it was officially canceling the staging in the Philippines of the 65th Miss Universe pageant.

During that conversation, Teo pointed out that the move would be a breach of contract. “They said, ‘We know but the owner canceled it. We’re just employees,’” Singson recounted.

Damage suit threat

MUO president Paula Shugart also said the MUO owners were aware that Singson could sue for damages but they were still officially canceling the event.

“My lawyers were happy because I was to get no less than $10 million and I would also get the $12 million I paid for the franchise without effort. But I showed them that I was not interested in the money. I told them I will not file any damage but they have to reconsider,” he said.

Singson said he wrote the MUO management to convince them to push through with the Philippine hosting “because I’ve talked to a lot of corporations and to a lot of people. I’ll lose my credibility and Miss Universe will also lose credibility canceling a signed contract.”

Luckily, the MUO changed its mind, also with a little help from some of his Jewish contacts, he said, noting that the MUO owner is Jewish.

‘Perfect’ hosting

But by the time the MUO decided to push through with the contract, some of the Philippine sponsors had backed out because “it was too late” and the pageant was beginning mid-January, he said.

Overall, Singson spent $15 million to stage what the MUO later described as a “perfect” hosting of the 2016 Miss Universe franchise. The pageant started on Jan. 15 and culminated on Jan. 30 at SM Mall of Asia Arena.

On top of this amount, Singson disclosed that he bought 30 new buses for use of the 86 Miss Universe titleholders and a yacht, reportedly amounting to $12 million.

The money he plunked down was not a financial loss but rather an investment, he insisted.

“As long as tourists will start arriving in the country, it’s a win for all of us. I’m very positive that it will be easy to recover the amount as long as there will be many tourists because I have transportation, an airline and a hotel,” he said.

Even when he was notified that the government had nothing to spend for the event,  Singson said he pushed through with his bid for the sake of the country.

“It’s the biggest promotion the country can ever have with around 200 nations and half a billion viewers watching,” he said.

Former Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson and Mr Universe at the PDI Office for the Meet the Inquirer Forum. INQUIRER PHOTO/ ALEXIS CORPUZ