ALMOST a week after Herlene Budol was crowned Miss Philippines Tourism at the Miss Grand Philippines pageant, ALV Pageant Circle clarified that she won’t be representing the country at the upcoming Miss Tourism World. This was later on supported by Hiyas ng Pilipinas – the pageantry who has the legal rights to Miss Tourism World Philippines.
This comes after netizens wondered if the newly crowned beauty queen will be the delegate of the country to the prestigious competition.
ALV Pageant Circle revealed they have already ceased from using the Miss Tourism World Philippines title and Herlene’s crown is a generic one. The pageant owners shared they have yet to choose a global pageant for Herlene as of this writing.
“Our Miss Philippines Tourism title is a generic title with no contractual obligation to any international pageant. Henceforth, our choice of global pageant may vary year after year, depending on the ideals and visions of the organization,” the statement said.
Pageant enthusiasts may have gotten confused after Herlene received the crown from the 2022 Miss World Philippines Tourism Justine Felizarta who bagged the first runner-up in the recently concluded Miss Tourism World pageant.
“It has never been our intention to instigate any conflict of interest with our fellow pageant organizers whom we regard with mutual respect. We are excited to announce that Miss Philippines Tourism 2023 will be competing in a different international tourism pageant, which we will announce very soon,” they added.
Meanwhile, the legal team of Hiyas ng Pilipinas ordered the “parties concerned” about their notice to cease and desist all the “contracts, agreements, covenants, and memorandum” that was made prior to February 18, 2023.
“Effective immediately, all previous franchise holders are required to cease the use of the trade names, logos, music, and any intellectual property associated with Hiyas ng Pilipinas in their operations,” the statement said.
Hiyas ng Pilipinas is firm on their decision to seek appropriate legal actions if the parties involved don’t cooperate with them.
Herlene recently trended on social media after netizens had mixed reactions about her response to a post after she failed to win the Miss Grand Philippines crown. She felt that her talents were wasted as she won’t have the chance to represent the country in the competition.
“Kase sinayang ni angkol, kaya sa Miss Tourism tayo ta-tumbling ng bongga,” she posted. (PUSH)
