MANILA, Philippines — The Miss Universe 2019 beauty pageant will take place in South Korea with the participation of North Korea, according to businessman-politician Luis “Chavit” Singson.
“Mula nung ako ay nag-sponsor, taon-taon tumutulong ako sa kanila. Kaya nung sa Bangkok ginawa, nakatulong din ako. Next year, na-arrange ko na sa South Korea at sasama ang North Korea,” Singson, one of the pageant sponsors, told AM radio station DZMM on Wednesday.
[From the time I started sponsoring, every year I have helped them. So when it was held in Bangkok, I also helped. Next year, I have arranged it in South Korea and North Korea will also join.]
As Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray was leaving for New York, Singson also bared that the beauty queen might return to the Philippines in January or February for a “formal welcome.”
“Kaya aalis na siya bukas sa New York dahil marami ng gustong makipagkita sa kanya pero babalik siya by January [or] February para mabigyan natin ng formal welcome,” he said.
[She’s leaving for New York tomorrow because a lot of people want to meet her. But she will be back by January or February so that the Philippines may give her a formal welcome.]
Gray is the country’s fourth Miss Universe after Pia Wurtzbach who won in 2015, Margie Moran in 1973, and Gloria Diaz in 1969. /atm