How to Stage a Billion Peso-Plus Beauty Pageant
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Ms. Philippines Catriona Gray winning Miss Universe in 2017.
Of all the major international beauty pageants, the Philippines holds a special affinity for the Miss Universe franchise because: one, the very first Miss Universe 1951, the blond, Scandinavian Armi Kuusela of Finland became a Filipino housewife, the bride of businessman Virgilio Hilario, in May 1953; two, since the country was not part of the British Commonwealth, it wasn’t included in the older Miss World pageant (older than Miss Universe by one year, 1951 vs. 1952—"age before beauty,” I guess) until 1966. But the Miss Universe brand had been deeply ingrained in the Filipino psyche since 1952.
Some arcane Miss Universe trivia: technically, Armi Kuusela should have been stripped of her title (as they have done in recent years) because she got married Hilario before her one-year contract with the pageant was fulfilled; the 1952 runner-up, Miss Hawaii Elza Edsman, should have inherited the crown (Hawaii was only a territory then and was entitled to send its own entry). The pageant, however, was so new that the exact mechanics for breach of contract weren’t in place or ready to be strictly enforced. It was wise that the early Miss Universe Organization management (MUO) just let Kuusela’s premature departure slide. Making a big deal about the first Miss Universe winner forsaking her title for true love would not have made for good optics.
The first Filipino-Finn family, Virgilio and Armi Hilario and their children, early 1960s.
Of course, everybody forgot Teresita Torralba Sanchez, (the first) Miss Philippines 1952, since Kuusela, by virtue of marrying a Filipino and starting a new life in the Philippines, became an adopted “daughter” of the country.
The years have flown by with the Philippines’ own true daughters earning the Miss U title four times on their own; and the pageant returned to Manila three times (1974, 1994 and January 2017). With the advent of satellite transmission, the international beauty pageants rank right up there with the Oscars and the Olympics as one of those rare communal experiences when most of the planet becomes one instant global digital village. The hosting rotation also offers host nations an opportunity to showcase their visual richness and tourist attractions into one very glitzy package of female pulchritude and global brands.
Warm-Up to the Thrilla in Manila
When Manila first hosted Miss Universe in 1974, it had the government’s full support because the country was under martial law and it was a priority “vanity” project of the ruling matriarch, Imelda Marcos. Under her misguided tutelage, the struggling country mobilized whatever meager logistics it had to carry off one of her circuses without a hitch. (See related PF article on the hijinks of the Miss Universe 1974 pageant: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/martial-law-stories-the-torture-of-playing-for-miss-universe-1974?rq=1974%20Miss%20Universe%20pageant )
Twenty years later in 1994, already eight years after Ferdinand and Imelda were booted from power, a new man was at the helm of the Philippines. The country was starting to recover and prosper after the ruinous regime of the Marcoses but still under the iron rule of a former military man, Fidel Ramos, when the Philippines again committed to staging the pageant. Juan de la Cruz again covered the bill for Universe-Manila II. It’s difficult to find honest figures on how much the 1974 and 1994 extravaganzas actually cost since, even at the time, a lot of frivolous expenditures were often hidden under “intelligence” appropriations. But I estimate that 1974 edition probably cost $7 - $8 million while 1994 perhaps came in for about the same price since no new gigantic venue was constructed just for the Ramos-era spectacle.
(The 1974 and 2017 stagings in Manila were triggered by a sentimental reason: the two outgoing 1973 and 2016 Miss Universes were former Miss Philippines -- Margie Moran and Pia Wurtzbach, respectively -- and it was decided that it would somehow be fitting for them to exit their reign on a Manila stage before pageant-crazy Filipinos, even if the crowning moments occurred at 8:00 a.m., Manila time, to allow for prime-time showing in the USA.)
The Folk Arts Theater was expressly built for the 1974 Miss Universe pageant in Manila, as it looks today. It was designed along the same heavy Brutalist lines that architect Leandro Locsin set out with the Cultural Center. The venue has now been renamed the Tanghalan Francisco Balagtas (the F. Balagtas Auditorium).
The Trump Era Begins for Miss Universe
In 1995, a new force entered the Miss Universe universe. One Donald J. Trump bought a 49-percent share ownership in the enterprise and he became the very active, very visible partner. Trump had also met and married his second wife, Marla Maples.
Maples, whose only legitimate “Miss” victory was the 1985 Miss Hawaiian Tropic (even though she’s from Georgia), after becoming the second Mrs. Donald Trump suddenly became co-host of the Miss Universe pageants in 1996 and 1997 even though she never even captured the Miss Georgia-USA title. Yup, it was still the casting couch and whom-you-knew.
In 2014, the pageant was staged at Trump’s newly refurbished Doral Resort in Florida with a supposed $2.5 million “location fee” paid to the sister Trump-owned MUO. Only the Trump Organization’s bookkeepers know how those inter-Trump-businesses cost items were justified.
Donald Trump in his early Miss Universe days, at the Miss USA pageant. MUO also owns and stages the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA brands.
By 2015 and 2016, Trump turned his attention to bigger and more domestic things—a US presidential election—but not after calling some ex-Miss Universe-winners (in particular, Alicia Machado of Venezuela, who was the first Miss Universe under his regime) a “pig” because she had gained a little weight afterwards. Trump was in his most shining “sexist” element when he owned the pageant since he considered it happy harem-hunting grounds.
As his presidential megalomania in 2016 grew, the mercurial Trump then started trashing the Latin community, Mexicans in particular, with even more vile epithets. (Trump never seemed to attract Latinas.) Mexicans took great umbrage and their MUO franchise threatened to pull out of the pageant, possibly taking the entire Latin American bloc with them. NBC quickly dissociated itself from the nasty imbroglio.
New Management Steps In
A new buyer lined up, but not before NBC sold its 51 percent share. Trump bought that in order to be able to sell the property in one piece. So, for three days, Trump was sole “king” and owner of MUO, until WME/IMG (the William Morris Endeavor/International Management Group), a talent agency, saw some promise in the enterprise and took it off the hothead’s hands. The sale price has never been revealed, but both parties seem to have been satisfied with the deal they worked out.
Under new management, the enterprise soldiered along, with Pia Wurtzbach winning the 2016 crown in Las Vegas wherein host Steve Harvey committed one of the largest gaffes in international “live” broadcasting history—naming the incorrect winner (Miss Colombia). A few moments later, after his head cleared, Harvey backtracked and proclaimed the rightful winner, Pia Wurtzbach – but not without suffering great international embarrassment.
The Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), originally built for the International Monetary Fund Convention in 1976, hosted the 1994 Miss Universe pageant. Another Imelda Marcos-holdover edifice, the main hall sits 4,000.
Wurtzbach’s victory set the stage for the pageant to return to Manila under WME/IMG which imposed even more onerous terms than Trump just for the rights. The initial “rights” fee was $6 million down. The Philippines meanwhile also had a new management team in place—that of Rodrigo Duterte. While the opportunity to showcase the Philippines globally again some 23 years after the last time was most tempting, the price tag was too steep even for the new administration. How could the new “champion of the Common Man” Duterte justify shelling out at least $6 million for such a frou-frou venture?
Wisely, his government buttoned down. After it had gotten into deep negotiations with MUO, it could not justify using public funds for such a frivolous project, even though the “national honor” was supposedly at stake. Well, who should come riding to the rescue of the 2017 Miss Universe saga? The damsels’ shining knight came in the unlikely form of none other than erstwhile-politician, super-rich Ilocano businessman Luis Chavit Singson (LCS).
Who is Luis Chavit Singson?
Mr. Singson comes with baggage from a checkered past. Born in 1941 in Vigan, Luis Chavit Singson is the second oldest son of Jose Singson and Caridad Crisologo. His paternal side claims it can trace its roots to as far back as 17th century Ilocos. His maternal side, the Crisologos, have been bitter rivals of their Singson in-laws in the political arena. Coming from the neighboring province, Ilocos Sur, to Marcos’ Ilocos Norte, the Singsons and Crisologos have been both allies and enemies of the powerful Marcos clan up north. During the Marcos years, there was bad blood and bloodletting among the three clans.
Luis Chavit Singson
The young Singson went to Colegio de San Juan de Letran and the University of Santo Tomas (1961-63. BTW, Letran College is only ten years younger than UST; hence Letran will be celebrating its 400th anniversary next year). The clans, however, were identified as the jueteng kingdoms of the North, with tobacco and reportedly the illegal numbers game as the early and primary sources of the families’ wealth.
LCS, of course, has also dabbled in politics. At one time or another, he’s been a recurring governor of Ilocos Sur (1972-86; 1992-2001; 2004-07; 2010-13); representative to Congress (1987-1992); failed senatorial candidate in 2007; and mayor of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur presently. He has consorted, supported, compadre’d, and counseled with all administrations ruling the Philippines since the Marcoses fell in 1986.
LCS has not been afraid to tangle with Bongbong Marcos over sequestered Marcos properties, as he once did over the controversial 18.5-hectare Payanig ng Pasig plot in the middle of the Ortigas Business District. LCS became a third claimant for the title to the valuable property, tussling with the original Ortigas-and-Richard Silverio interests, and the younger Marcos on behalf of his family’s interests even though the PCGG had declared that plot to be part of the Marcoses’ “plunder” and it was eventually auctioned off. The PCGG quashed LCS’ claim in that matter.
If anything, LCS’ portfolio today is reminiscent of Marcosian salad days when a dozen of FM’s cronies loaded their resumes with a string of numerous corporations. So-called “titans of industry” like Benedicto, Campos, Cojuangco, Cuenca, Disini, Floirendo, Ponce-Enrile, Silverio, Tan, Tantoco, Velasco were actually partners and fronts for Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos’ pillaged ‘empire.’ It’s a wonder LCS was not on that list.
LCS Current Corporate Holdings
Today, LCS does not hide the string of companies which comprise his portfolio. Some of these companies are vaguely listed on the LCS Group website: Partas Transportation, a Luzon bus company with a fleet of more than 400 buses; Satrap Power, a renewable energies power company; Satrap Mining, gold and silver mines (“Partas” and “Satrap” are not anagrams of “Sparta” but of “satrap,” the Persian word for “governor,” which LCS was when these companies were set-up).
Then there are Chavit Tree Project, a lumber and reforestation company; Platinum Skies (this appears to be a company providing private, corporate jet services (LCB admits to a fleet of 13 Dornier (LCS must consider “13” a lucky number) Swiss-German-made private jets); GoSport, a sporting goods company; Casha, a financial and loan company; and, as far as is made public, Banco Vigan. What started out as a rural bank in Vigan opened its first foreign branch in, of all places, San Juan, Puerto Rico, probably because of its lax banking laws there. There are also business interests in South Korea. The LCS Group of Companies website is not entirely transparent (except for the full Miss Universe story); thus, one has to read between the lines.
But one thing is sure. LCS is so wealthy he has half-a-dozen homes in the Philippines (his primary Manila residence is in Corinthian Gardens, QC) and in the US. He is so “lucky” in business that he has bragged about being banned in one casino in Las Vegas for not gambling long enough for the odds to rework in favor of the house, after winning heavily early and getting up soon after that.
Big-game Hunter and Wildlife Collector
LCS’s flaunting of personal wealth and luxury, like the Marcoses, does not end there. One unsavory aspect to LCS’s lifestyle is that he is open and avowed big-game hunter and breeder. Where Marcos tried to hide the illegal relocation of African wildlife to a secluded preserve in Calauit, an island north of Palawan, Singson has not only had photos taken of him on safari in Africa with dead trophies, he also recreated a whole wildlife preserve and “simulated” safari environment in Baluarte, Ilocos Sur, once again importing species alien to the Philippines, exactly as Marcos had done some 30 years before.
What a plum for the Birthday Boy; but not for Big Kitty! Singson posing hesitantly behind sunglasses and the birthday gift to himself, on the occasion of his 72nd birthday in 2013, in the Kalahari Desert in Africa. I guess no one told the king of the jungle that the armed, interloper King of Ilocos Sur was coming to his turf. LCS also killed an antelope on that safari.
LCS’s daughter, Richelle Singson-Michael, went after endangered wild ducks in Ilocos. When animal-rights groups shamed them for the senseless killing of wildlife, Singson’s justification for his pay-for-bounty-killing in South Africa where it is legal and a dollar-earner for some African governments, was “. . . if (he) didn’t shoot them, some other licensed hunter would have anyway. . .” Such a sensitive individual.
Singson’s privately owned animal trophy museum in Baluarte, Ilocos Sur. For shame. (Photo courtesy of Krisha)
Nailing Down that 2017 Pageant
Back to the main thrust of the story. To bring the Miss Universe show back to Manila in 2017, the MUO first demanded $6 million (a non-refundable $1 million “deposit;” then a $5 million “rights” fee). MUO then required another $6 million in the bank to cover production expenses, the cash prizes, etc., to ensure that all the foreign talents involved in the production would get paid. Several months of more negotiations followed. Would the new Duterte administration move quickly enough in six months’ time to get the project going or not? Because the pageant was bigger than ever (86 entrants), had keener competition from the other rival pageants, a new, more professional company at the helm, the challenge took on greater urgency.
The fledgling Duterte government apparently prevailed on Singson to save the day, despite the “exorbitant” fees demanded upfront. Juan de la Cruz wasn’t going to bankroll this extravaganza but, as LCS tells it, it became a matter of national pride for the project to happen sooner rather than later, and on Philippine shores (again). Would LCS take up the challenge? (The Araneta Group of Companies, who had held the Miss U franchise for decades, did not come forward as it easily could have, with the 16,000-seater Araneta Coliseum as a ready-made venue, but it was still licking its wounds after (nephew) Mar Roxas lost the 2016 presidency to the upstart Duterte.)
The Mall of Asia Arena, built by the Shoemart-Henry Sy Enterprises in 2012 on reclaimed Manila Bay land in Pasay City, became the main venue for Miss Universe 2017. It is now the Philippines’ premier space for sports and similar showcases
At that time, LCS Group also claimed it was about to launch an ambitious international expansion of its Banco Vigan in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East markets before the Miss Universe 2017 challenge came along. It held off on that front and diverted funds set aside for the expansion to financing the Miss Universe 2017 show instead. So, in starting out with that initial $12 million outlay, LCS rose to the challenge. It was, after all, for “king and country.”
A Second, Larger Yacht Was “Needed”
Then Yacht II followed. As if the $12 million initial outlay weren’t enough, Singson himself decided that a new luxurious yacht was necessary for the pageant cameras. Never mind that he already owned one (Escalera, bought for $4 million); a second, even bigger yacht was needed as a photogenic accoutrement to the extravaganza. So LCS ordered his minions to scour the watering holes of the one percenters in Europe for a suitable vessel. They quickly came up with the Happy Life, an Alpha marine vessel with 16 staterooms and four jacuzzis (of course, it was Italian-made). It was supposedly bought in Spain at a “bargain” price of (another) $12 million (Php600 million!!). The 144-foot yacht sailed to Manila in six days with a crew of eight.
The $12 million, 144-foot long Happy Life (also the name for some of LCS’ tourism-related enterprises), bought specifically for the Miss Universe 2017 pageant use.
As the pageant was to unfold in January 2017, the bill had now reached over $24 million (or Php1.2 Billion pesos), making it one of the largest expenditures for at a single project in Philippine history!
What did the LCS Group hope to gain by splurging on such a fleeting project? The answer was supposedly all business-driven and “it was a bargain.” Sponsoring the show would supposedly generate some Php 500 billion in “media mileage.” In other words, if one had to buy all the television ad time in the 80+ countries carrying the pageant, it would have cost some Php 500 billion+. Thus, the Php 1.2 billion spent in one fell swoop to attract tourist dollars presented itself as a bargain. Now, how and over what period of time would the expenditure begin to pay off? That was the big unknown. The major consolation was that it was one “patriotic” man with deep pockets who footed the bill; not the Filipino taxpayer.
Why Isn’t LCS on Forbes’ Latest List of the 20 Richest Filipinos?
There is another burning question. For a private citizen to throw some Php 1.2 billion at a beauty pageant, how truly deep are LCS’s pockets? One can also assume that its net worth has got to be up there among the “Crazy Rich Asians” and at least the top dozen richest Filipinos today. Yet, like a few other random names—for example, Manny Pacquiao, Joseph Estrada, the Madrigals, Ka Eduardo Manalo of the INC, who reputedly owns Boeing 737 and an Airbus 330 jet for private use, to name a few, Chavit’s name has never appeared on Forbes list of the Top 20 Richest Filipinos in recent years (not even on the Top 50 list as of October 2019).
A friend knowledgeable in such matters speculated that LCS and his companies must pay their taxes in a very byzantine way that has managed to avoid appearing on the Forbes’ lists. Apparently, Forbes makes up its lists from available tax returns. One can also deduce that being good friends with Malacañang and doing beneficent things in the president’s name will not get you investigated—hence, you don’t get picked up by Forbes Magazine’s radar.
Helping MUO Find a Host for 2019-2020
So invested had LCS become in the Miss Universe brand that for this year, it again offered his s auspices as a repeat presenter in Manila. Failing that, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro and Israel were bruited about as other supposed hosts. The LCS Group tried to position itself, with LCS’ daughter Richelle leading the charge, as a consultant to a staging in Seoul (being in the same time zone and geographic region as the Philippines. Seoul hardly needed anyone’s advice, having staged the Miss Universe contest in 1980 which gave rise to the 1988 Seoul Olympics.) But MUO wanted to take this year’s pageant to a different direction and setting that afforded the Eastern USA live prime-time broadcast exposure, taking along the Caribbean and most South American markets, the pageant’s other lucrative regions, into that time-zone consideration.
Dozing off on beauty? Infamous photo of Singson dozing off beside Catriona Gray, Miss Universe 2019, at Manny Pacquaio’s fight in Las Vegas, July 2019. Note Gray’s expression. What man gets to sit beside the reigning Miss Universe and falls asleep? Singson apologized to Gray and blamed it on “jetlag.”
A repeat Manila setting would seem to make it less than a fresh, international spectacle. So, Miss Universe 2020 will be crowned this Sunday night at the new Tyler Perry Film Studios in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. However, the latest scuttlebutt is that the LCS Group has wrestled away the Philippine franchise from Stella Araneta’s Binibining Pilipinas charities. If true, the franchise would be renamed Miss Universe Philippines. This year’s Miss Philippines entrant, Gazini Jordi Ganados, was still chosen by Stella Araneta’s group.
Miss Philippines 2020 for Miss Universe, Gazini Jordi Granados, half-Palestinian, half-Filipino. Can she take home the 2020 crown? Back-to-back Miss Universe titles have never happened for the Philippines. Granados might also be the last of the Stella Marquez Araneta-chosen Binibining Pilipinas beauties.
Next Up, Sky’s the Limit
With Miss Universe and the expansion of the Banco Vigan into Latin America on hold, high-flying Singson has bigger drams. First off is his intended gift of free wifi to the Ilocos Sureños. After that, he plans to erect the tallest Christian statue in the world—a projected 141-meter tall statue of Jesus Christ, to be called The Resurrection, in his Ilocos Sur lands, of course. it will be three times the size of the Statue of Liberty. It is meant to be a massive tourist draw and would supposedly be the third tallest free-standing statue in the world.
Initial estimates for The Resurrection were only $2 million but since its blueprint stage, costs have skyrocketed and the mega-ambitious project is also on hold.
As I delved deeper into YouTube research for this piece, it seems odd that LCS waged a deliberate, late-stage PR campaign to bare his immense wealth before the Filipino nation. Ces Drilon interviewed him in September 2019, followed less than a month later by the Boy Abunda report of October 8, 2019. The interviews were deliberately staged in LCS’ domain-- in his private jet, showing off the paid staff who cater to his every whim. What is LCS trying to prove?
Readers’ comments on these LCS YouTube interviews are largely negative. Of course, every successful person has his/her detractors. Still, take a gander at some of the comments to gain some much-needed context.
Finally, what happened to the second yacht? Happy Life sits sadly in Manila Bay, waiting for a new owner at $4.2 million, starting. Thus, LCS has already conceded a loss of some $8 million for a one-event-used symbol of conspicuous luxury. So far, no takers. But hey, it’s only money.
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chavit_Singson
https://www.philstar.com/metro/2013/01/09/894782/chavit-firm-insists-it-owns-payanig-sa-pasig-land
http://www.lcsgroup.com.ph/ (LCS Group of Companies website)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaEu_ORWMM&t=11s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG3RxzPHHuY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r--DzGl5OIc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVSZE3UupJc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqciKcH0UC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1B8WWJoAyE
https://www.wheninmanila.com/chavit-singson-kills-lion-for-his-birthday-hunting-and-killing-for-fun/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=R7j3QZeK4pY&feature=emb_logo
https://www.rappler.com/sports/specials/sea-games/245649-football-teams-grumble-2019-hosting-chaotic
http://www.scandimar-ph.com/yacht-sales/luxury-yacht-42-50-m-by-cantieri-di-fiumicino/
Myles Garcia
Myles A. Garcia is a Correspondent and regular contributor to www.positivelyfilipino.com. He has written three books: Secrets of the Olympic Ceremonies (latest edition, 2016); Thirty Years Later . . . Catching Up with the Marcos-Era Crimes (© 2016); and his latest, Of Adobe, Apple Pie, and Schnitzel With Noodles—all available in paperback from amazon.com (Australia, USA, Canada, UK and Europe).
Myles is also a member of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH), contributing to their Journal, and pursuing dramatic writing lately. For any enquiries: razor323@gmail.com
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