Panglao town will become the center of the Philippines’ beauty pageant universe this coming week.
The organizers of the Miss Universe Philippines (MUP) announced on social media on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, that Panglao town is the host of this year’s coronation night of the said beauty pageant.
MUP will be crowning the country’s next bet for the Miss Universe pageant on Sept. 30, 2021.
“We started the competition in Clark, Pampanga, now we’re flying to Bohol for the coronation!” the organizers said in a post.
They added: “The Miss Universe Philippines Organization is very happy to announce that the Province of Bohol will be our host for the Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Pageant. The finals will be on September 30 at the Henann Resort Convention Center in Panglao, Bohol.”
The organizers further quipped, “We are grateful to the Governor Arthur Yap, the Bohol LGUs [local government unit] and Tourism board and the IATF [Inter Agency Task Force] for allowing us to stage this year’s pageant in this most idyllic destination.”
The pageant can be viewed at KTX.ph according to the organizers.
The winner of the said competition will represent the Philippines in the Miss Universe pageant in Israel this coming Dec. 2021.
Unlike last year, Bohol doesn’t have any representative to the pageant.
Tubigon’s Pauline Amelinckx represented Bohol in the pageant last year and finished as 3rd runner-up.
In a telephone interview, Bohol Tourism Office’s (BTO) Joanne Pinat told The Bohol Tribune that the pageant will help boost the province image and may help convince tourists to consider visiting Bohol, as it is a safe tourism destination.
She said the successful staging of the pageant will help catapult Bohol as a major destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE), where the protocols can help prevent the spread of disease to visitors.
Pinat assured Boholanos that all of the participants will be subjected to the entry protocol as they each need to present negative real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) result taken 72 hours prior to arrival here.
Moreover, the participants including the members of the MUP organizing committee and production staff will be placed in a bubble. They are not allowed to step outside the bubble, Pinat explained.
Persons from Bohol who will be allowed to join the participants, and members of the organizing team are fully vaccinated and will be tested for Coronavirus disease (Covid) and needs to yield a negative result before joining, Pinat revealed.
Local residents are advised to stay away from the venue as strict security measures will be enforced during the stay of the participants and members of the organizing committee.
Pinat said that the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) will not spend a single centavo in the conduct of the event.
It is expected that the delegation from the MUP organizing committee and the participants are slated to arrive anytime before Sept. 30, 2021. They are slated to leave the province by Friday, Oct. 1, 2021.
Pinat said the BTO was informed about the event only last Sept. 23, 2021, after the national IATF approved the staging of the coronation night in Panglao.
Pinat added that the organizers chose Bohol as the event venue because they want to stage the pageant in an idyllic setting.
Additionally, Pinat said the MUP organizers were impressed in how Bohol welcomed the 2020 winners in a photo shoot including some activities done here.
The 2020 MUP winners headed by Rabiya Mateo visited Bohol last year for a photoshoot and several social engagements.
Meanwhile, in a separate telephone interview, John Paul Maslog, the executive assistant of Panglao mayor Leonila Montero said the local government unit is tasked to provide the security around the venue.