MANILA, Philippines — Wilbert Tolentino, manager of Herlene Budol, has unveiled the circumstances that led him to withdraw the beauty queen out from the Miss Planet International pageant.
Tolentino uploaded on his YouTube account a video titled, "The Full Story of Miss Planet International," where he recounted all the events that led up to the competition's tumultuous postponement to 2023.
The vlog began with clips briefly explaining the Miss Planet International pageant, followed by images of the beauty queens who would be participating at this year's edition, which was going to be in Uganda, including Budol.
After his standard intro, Tolentino then showed videos of the participants rehearsing on a rooftop, and of Budol showering praises for her fellow beauty queens.
Nevertheless, Tolentino then said that the contestants were not given food during their break, and later on doubled down on accomodation issues that stemmed from a lack of coordination from the head organization and budget restraints.
Social media posts from the representatives of Jamaica and the Czech Republic expressing grievances prompted Tolentino to officially withdraw Budol from the competition.
The vlog ended with clips of the remaining contestants gathering together, and with Budol visibly crying as she begged for her and her companions to depart the venue.
"I am very hurt. Not only did we lose a crown, lots of money and lots of effort, but the loss of time. But we will never lose hope because we have a bright future awaiting back home. This is indeed a traumatic experience for all of us but we fought for it until the end," said Tolentino following Budol's withdrawal.
Herlene shared Tolentino's vlog on Instagram, calling the experience "isang bangungot" (a nightmare) and "masalimuot" (difficult).
As of press time, Miss Planet International 2022 will no longer be held in Uganda, and instead will be held in Cambodia in January 2023.
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