philippines no esta cancelado como seede de miss universe 2016, afirma sub secretario de departamento de turismo.

The Department of Tourism (DOT)  has branded as mere rumors the supposed cancellation of the 2017 Miss Universe pageant in the Philippines. In a statement sent to INQUIRER.net on Monday, DOT Undersecretary Kat De Castro said they were not aware of any cancellation as the meetings with the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) were still ongoing.

“We are not aware of any cancellation for Miss Universe. We are still having ongoing meetings with the MUO. Let us wait for official announcements before jumping into any conclusion,” De Castro said.

De Castro also took to social media to dismiss the rumors, which she said started with her Facebook post about crying that tagged reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. “Those cancellation rumors on Miss Universe, are simply just that… rumors. Please wait for official announcements soon from MUO. Thank you,” she said. The DOT said a team from the MUO went to the country last week to conduct ocular inspections of possible venues for pageant events, including Vigan, Palawan and Cebu.

Latest reports also mentioned the possibility of the Okada Manila Resort & Casino as the official residence of the contestants during their stay in the nation’s capital.

Rumours about the MUO pulling the pageant from the Philippines have been circulating around social media for weeks now.  Despite the DOT’s official announcement – last July 30th – by Secretary Wanda Teo confirming that the 65th edition of the contest would take place in the Philippines, IMG Universe LLC (the Miss Universe Organization) has not made an official announcement as of today.

Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte latest actions and controversial statements made the public wonder if his political stance would have any impact on the country hosting the pageant.

Some pageant sites, mostly on facebook, were informing that the next edition of the Miss Universe pageant would take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this January, and that the Philippines would host the 2017 competition later in the year.

The unconfirmed reports started when sources within both organizations (DOT and the MUO) indicated that no contract had been signed yet.