Teo said hosting the pageant will cost about $11 million, but the government “is not going to spend a single centavo.”
“It will be the private sector that will shoulder the expenses," she said.
Teo said Duterte did not veto the proposal to hold the next Miss Universe pageant in the Philippines. She said the deal was done during the President’s meeting with Wurtzbach in Malacañang. Duterte is expected to issue an administrative order on the Philippines’ hosting of the pageant before the end of the month, Teo said.
After the report that the country will no longer host the pageant came out, Teo said she called Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for clarification. Medialdea said the President hasn’t changed his mind.
"I told him, 'Is it okay for me to announce that the Miss Universe will be here in the Philippines?' And he said yes," Teo said.
Teo also said she had to reassure the management of Miss Universe, particularly Vice President Shawn McLane, who immediately contacted DoT Undersecretary Kat de Castro asking whether the initial news reports were true.
DoT Media Director Ina Zara said the President of the Miss Universe Organization Paula Shugart proposed the hosting of the pageant to other countries as well, but the Philippines has been the top choice from the start — and Pia Wurtzbach was one of the reasons for that.
The Philippines has hosted the pageant twice, the most recent in 1994 when India's Sushmita Sen took home the crown.
The Philippines' bet Maxine Medina said she is confident of bringing the country's first back-to-back win at the 65th Miss Universe pageant.
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