Try as hard as the country is
doing, there is just no hiding that the pandemic has ravaged the regular
routines, and the new normal remains the only normal for many. The Miss
Universe Philippines Organization has been battered by one obstacle after
another in holding their 2021 edition of the beauty pageant to select the
Filipina contender for the Miss Universe competition this coming December.
Already the delays reached the point where a candidate withdrew due to health
issues (thankfully not COVID). But with new cases still reaching record highs,
the pageant’s September 25 schedule is deferred once more.
CNN Philippines has it that the 2021 Miss Universe Philippines
pageant scheduled for this coming Saturday will not happen, again. The
organizers announced this new setback on Sunday, September 19. A new date for
the coronation night will be announced, after the MUPO hashes out new details
with the COVID Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) regarding “enhanced plans” for
the event to prevent the spread of pandemic when and where it would be held.
This latest postponement of the beleaguered competition was only punctuated
that same Sunday by the withdrawal of Miss Davao City Ybonne Ortega. The
reason: she got COVID-19.
Ortega had a lot to say about
herself, the pageant and other matters when she wrote her lengthy Instagram post
on September 19. Apparently she tested positive for the virus before getting
together with the Miss Universe PH production and her fellow candidates. Ybonne
also remarked on the struggle to stay positive even when negative naysayers
bring her down. “Despite this short, but very exciting journey, I came across
with so many people in different industries,” says Miss Davao City. “They had
supported me in the most special ways from the beginning up until now. Your
efforts are immensely treasured."
Questions were raised when Ortega
failed to arrive at Clark Hilton Hotel for the MUPh candidate’s lock-in prior
to pageant night, which started a week ago. Also a no-show then was the
candidate for Davao Occidental, Krizzaleen Mae Valencia. Given that the delays
of the original coronation night schedules were an insistence that the pageant
be held in Metro Manila, reports that the organizers led by National Director
Shamcey Supsup-Lee were at Clark International Airport recently has led to speculation
that the facility may be under consideration as an alternative venue. Nothing
has been confirmed.
All that is known is, whenever
Miss Universe Philippines 2021 kicks off, it will be broadcast-streamed by
ABS-CBN on KTX.ph.
Image from Philippine Star
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