No road closures during Miss Universe pageant – Duterte

MANILA, Philippines - More than a year after he cursed Pope Francis for causing traffic jams during the papal visit in 2015, President Duterte has ordered the organizers of the Miss Universe pageant to avoid road closures in Manila during the event in 2017. 

Tourism Undersecretary Katherine de Castro yesterday said the President was firm in his instructions to avoid disrupting the regular flow of traffic and creating public inconvenience for the duration of activities and the main pageant.

“When we presented it to President Duterte, that’s the first thing he said: ‘walang isasaradong kalsada, walang itatago na tao, ipakita natin ang ganda ng Pilipinas (no road will be closed, no people will be hidden, we will show the beauty of the Philippines). Despite poverty, there is beauty in this country’,” De Castro said at a briefing in Malacañang. 

“That is why we’ve decided that all of the preliminaries will just be down south, in the Mall of Asia compound to avoid too much inconvenience,” she added.

When Duterte was still mayor of Davao City, he was in Manila during the papal visit. He got stuck in a traffic jam along Roxas Boulevard after the lanes were closed to ensure the security and smooth flow of traffic for the papal delegation.

In a forum where he announced his presidential bid months later, Duterte recounted how he got stuck in traffic during the papal visit in January 2015 and cursed Pope Francis. He said “Pope, you son of a b****, go home.” Duterte’s words drew outrage from the Catholic faithful. 

There were also road lockdowns during Manila’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November last year, during which flights were canceled as heads of state and their parties arrived and departed.

Duterte as pageant judge

Asked if President Duterte will be given a key role, possibly as judge, in the Miss Universe pageant, De Castro said the pageant organizers relayed this offer to the Office of the President but nothing has been substantiated yet.

“I think his men are aware that we would like him to be part of… to judge it or just even to watch it. But he has not yet given us a concrete answer,” she said.

The Department of Tourism said it would urge the Miss Universe Organization to relax its rules regarding the qualifications of pageant judges should Duterte express interest to be one for the competition next year.

“As of now, we are still appealing the rule of Miss Universe that there should be no judge from the host country. But then I was saying, what if the President is the one judging it? Maybe you should relax that a bit,” De Castro said.

But De Castro said a special section is being readied in the venue in case Duterte decides to watch the pageant.

Yesterday, Miss USA Deshauna Barber and Miss New Zealand Tania Pauline Dawson were presented to the media at the Palace briefing. 

Barber and Dawson were happy about the warm welcome they received upon arriving in the country yesterday.  

Dawson, who is half-Filipino, said she is excited to go around, including the activity to “swim with the whale sharks” in Cebu.    

Barber said her excitement comes from the stories about the Philippines shared to her by reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach. They were roommates in New York.

Wurtzbach will also join the candidates in various activities in major tourist attractions in the country. 

Miss Korea Jenny Kim. RUDY SANTOS

“Since she’s from the Philippines and she’s the reigning Miss Universe, she will definitely be going around the country with the girls. She will sort of act as a tour guide for the girls. So far, the plans would be to bring them in January to Baguio City, Cebu, Palawan, Davao and a whole lot of other places,” De Castro said. 

“So definitely, Pia will be very much active. Maybe Pia will get more tired compared to the girls because she has to be everywhere,” she added.

Other candidates who arrived in the country yesterday afternoon were Miss Korea Jenny Kim and Miss Australia Emily Caris Tiivel.

Miss Thailand Chalita Suansane, Miss Japan Nakasawa Sari, Miss Vietnam Dang Thi Le Hang, Miss Malaysia Kiranmeet Kaur Baljeet Singh and Miss Myanmar Htet Htet Tun were expected to arrive last night. – With Mary Grace Padin, Rudy Santos