Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach urged her countrymen not to attack, criticize or bash any Miss Universe 2016 candidate who will arrive in the Philippines for the pageant later this month. She tweeted a reminder to her Filipino fans on Jan. 8, Sunday, to show the candidates hospitality, which is one of the most popular Filipino values.
Wag po sana tayong mambash ng mga candidates dahil magrereflect po yan sa impression nila satin. Lahat po tayo representative ng Pilipinas
Wurtzbach will crown her successor on Jan. 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. This is the second time in the history of the competition that the whole year was skipped. The 2014 pageant was held in January 2015.
The 65th Miss Universe pageant marks the third time the competition was held in the Philippines. In 1974, it was held for the first time in the country with Miss Universe 1973 Margarita Moran crowning her successor Amparo Muñoz of Spain. The second time was in 1994 when Miss Universe 1993 Dayanara Torres crowned her successor Sushmita Sen of India.
One of the cities in the Philippines to be visited by the Miss Universe 2016 candidates is Baguio City. This was recently confirmed by Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio and Baguio Country Club general manager Anthony De Leon.
“There were a lot of local government units lobbying to host the pageant," Sun Star quoted De Leon as saying. "We are lucky to be part of this."
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to watch the Miss Universe 2016 coronation night. Recently, Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina, 26, talked about the upcoming pageant.
"I'm very honored that our President will be there and since he will be witnessing a back-to-back (win)," Medina told Rappler. She also said that she just realized that it would be fulfilling for her to have the competition in the Philippines because she is fond of going outdoors.
For Medina, it was very surprising that Miss Universe 2016 was going to be held in the Philippines and the candidate are going around the country. She said it is her goal to go around her home country first before going around the world.
One of the things Medina is very excited to do is to share with the candidates not only the warm hospitality and resilience of Filipinos. She also wants to show the cultural practices of the Filipinos such as the boodle fight.
Watch a video of Wurtzbach welcoming the Miss Universe 2016 candidates to the Philippines here: