Tourism secretary wants to give Steve Harvey a chance to host Miss U

MANILA, Philippines (Philippines News Agency)  — Tourism Secretary Wanda Corazon Teo said Friday she will try to convince President Rodrigo Duterte to give Steve Harvey another chance to host the upcoming Miss Universe pageant in Manila.

Teo said she will personally speak with the president and may even ask the help of reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach to convince him to give Harvey another shot at hosting the pageant.

“The reigning Miss Universe, our very own Pia Wurtzbach, has the magnanimity to appreciate the way Mr. Harvey stepped up to redeem himself. I’m counting on the same sense of forgiveness and class-act among Filipinos,” Teo said.

She also noted that Harvey is on a five-year contract to emcee the pageant and has been vocal in expressing his apologies for his blunder during the 2015 Miss Universe pageant.

In the last pageant held in Las Vegas, Nevada, Harvey incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as Miss Universe 2015 and Wurtzbach as first runner-up.

However, a few moments after crowning Miss Colombia, the American host corrected himself and announced that Wurtzbach was the real winner.

With the pageant only four months away, Teo said her department has more than enough time to appease Duterte.

READ: Duterte wants Steve Harvey out of Miss Universe

She said that she is counting on the president’s and Filipino’s sense of forgiveness to allow Harvey to resume his hosting duties.

“I’ve known him (Duterte) for many years as our Davao City mayor with a big heart for well-meaning people like Mr. Harvey, who did not hesitate to correct his mistake,” Teo said.

The Philippines will be hosting the Miss Universe pageant on January 30 next year at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

The Department of Tourism earlier assured that the government will not spend a single centavo on the event since the private sector will shoulder the estimated USD11-million production cost of the pageant.

The country has hosted the Miss Universe pageant twice in 1974 and in 1994.

Teo meanwhile said it would be up to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to resolve the problem on street dwellers when the Miss Universe events take place.

The previous administration had been scored for hauling street dwellers and billeting them in a resort outside Metro Manila for the duration of major international events, such as Pope Francis’ visit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit last year.

She assured that the DSWD under Secretary Judy Taguiwalo will implement long-lasting programs and projects to uplift the lives of indigent Filipino families.