Miss Universe To be Held in Manila.
MANILA, Philippines (July 28) – The Department of Tourism (DOT) confirmed that 2015 Miss Universe Pia Alonzo-Wurtzbach is to pass-on the prestigious crown to her successor on her native land.
On a press briefing on Thursday, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo announced that the pageant is scheduled on January 30, 2017 but did not specify the will be venue.
She also reiterated that the Miss Universe Organization shall bear all the expenses to be incurred in the holding of pageant before the Filipino crowd.
“I would like to inform everybody that the Miss Universe pageant will be on January 30, 2017 in the Philippines,” said Teo. “The government is not going to spend any single centavo. It will be the private sector who would shoulder the expenses.”
President Rodrigo Duterte recently said that he is not willing to allot government funds on hosting of the pageant.
The next Miss Universe coronation night is said to have a budget amounting to $11 million.
Gloria Diaz is the first Filipina to ever win the Miss Universe crown in 1969 coronation which was held in Miami Beach, Florida, USA. After four years, the crown came back to a Pinay beauty when Margarita “Margie” Moran won.
After 42 years, the Filipino-German actress, TV host, model and beauty queen Wurtzbach, professionally known as Pia Romero, won the prestigious crown.
This is not the first time that a Filipina crowns her successor. In 1974, the 22nd edition of the pageant was held for the first time in the Philippines when Miss Universe 1973 Moran crowned Amparo Muñoz of Spain.
The United States has won more Miss Universe titles than any other country, with a total of eight titles as of January 2015. Venezuela has the next most number of Miss Universe title wins with seven.
The Miss Universe is a yearly international beauty pageant, which was first held in Long Beach, California on 1952.
