Pride of Mindanao: Rody, Pia meet

MANILA, Philippines - The first President and first Miss Universe from Mindanao finally met yesterday, exchanging pleasantries at Malacañang and discussing plans to promote the Philippines.

Reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach took a selfie with President Duterte during a courtesy call at Malacañang as they discussed the possibility of holding the beauty pageant in the country.

It remains unclear whether Duterte approved of the proposal, but previous reports quoted Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo as saying that the President is open to the idea.

A Malacañang statement said Duterte and Wurtzbach talked about the similarities between them, with both of them hailing from Mindanao.

Duterte served as mayor of Davao City for 22 years while Wurtzbach hails from Cagayan de Oro.

“What an honor to meet our new President, Rodrigo Duterte. First Mindanaon president and first Mindanaon Miss Universe,” Wurtzbach wrote in the caption of her selfie with the Chief Executive posted on Instagram.

Duterte was accompanied by Teo and tourism undersecretary for media affairs Katherine de Castro.

The members of the Miss Universe organization who were present during the courtesy call included Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Foundation; Shawn Maclaine, vice president for marketing and business development; and Esther Swan, Miss Universe Foundation manager.

Promoting tourism 

Wurtzbach said she would continue to pursue her goal of being an ambassador for the Philippines and promote tourism.

“It is my personal dream and of majority of the Filipinos to see the Miss Universe pageant held here,” she said.

Teo had earlier said Duterte agreed to host the 2017 Miss Universe pageant in Manila to boost tourism.

She added the private sector has agreed to sponsor the international event.

“This undertaking would entail no expense on the part of the government and it would give a boost to businesses and livelihood of millions of Filipinos,” Teo said.

“Miss Universe organization assured us that the franchise fee will be much less than what they had in Russia and Brazil,” De Castro said.

The DOT proposed that the segments of the month-long beauty pageant be filmed in the country’s tourist spots like Palawan, Boracay and Cebu, which topped the World’s Best Islands 2016 awards by New York-based Travel & Leisure magazine. – With Louise Maureen Simeon