QUEZON CITY — After weeks of speculation surrounding the ownership of the Miss Universe franchise for the Philippines, Bb. Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) Chair Stella Araneta broke her silence and responded to questions about the matter.

“Yes, the Miss Universe franchise is with us,” Araneta told the Inquirer in an ambush interview Thursday afternoon at the Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City at the sidelines of the send-off press conference for Bb. Pilipinas-Intercontinental Karen Gallman, who will be competing in the Miss Intercontinental pageant.

READ: Karen Gallman to vie for Philippines’ first Miss Intercontinental crown

When asked why there were rumors about the franchise changing hands, Araneta said: “Because there are many others who want to get it!”

Previous reports from other outlets have hinted on a supposed transfer of the local franchise to the LCS Group of former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson and his daughter, Richelle Singson-Michael.

The younger Singson was a judge at the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant in Thailand won by Bb. Pilipinas queen Catriona Gray.

READ: Philippines’ Catriona Gray is Miss Universe 2018

Gray also traveled back to the Philippines after the pageant aboard Singson’s private jet, together with the former governor, his daughter, and some officials of the Miss Universe Organization, which fueled rumors.

Although BPCI is not the first franchise holder of Miss U in the Philippines, it has been sending the Philippines’ representatives to the US-based Miss Universe pageant since 1964, with the late Myrna Panlilio as its first bet.

The organization has produced four Miss Universe winners — Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1974), Pia Wurtzbach (2015), and Gray — and several runners-up and semifinalists. /ee