Image: Instagram/@herlene_budol
Herlene Budol has withdrawn from the 2022 edition of Miss Planet International after she and her team experienced “uncertainties” from the competition’s organizers.
Miss Planet Philippines national director and Budol’s manager Wilbert Tolentino announced this via his Facebook page yesterday, Nov. 11.
“Due to uncertainties by the organizers, I have decided to withdraw Herlene ‘Hipon’ Budol from the competition despite numerous [attempts] to fix some pageants debacles. It seems like the Ugandan Government has no initiative to intervene,” he said, without elaborating.
Tolentino apologized to members of Budol’s team, sponsors and designers, as well as fans who had been cheering on Budol from the start of her international pageant journey.
“For me as MPP National Director, I [am] very hurt. Not only [had] we lost a crown, lost [money], lost [effort], but lost [time]. But we will never lose hope, because we have [a] bright future back [home],” he told fans. “This is indeed a traumatic experience for all of us, but we fought for it until the end. And that is our mission.”
Tolentino earlier spoke about the inconveniences many candidates experienced in their stay in Uganda.
He noted that many candidates were not able to enter Africa because they did not have yellow fever vaccinations. The pageant’s sponsor resort also backed out due to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Because of this, Tolentino said candidates had to look for alternative accomodations, while others quit the competition because they could not afford the expenses.
Miss Czech Repulic Tamila Sparrow and Miss Jamaica Tonille Simone Watkis stated in their respective Instagram pages that the pageant had been canceled, though an official statement from the organizers has not been released as of this writing.
Budol arrived in Uganda on Nov. 5, weeks ahead of the scheduled coronation night for Miss Planet International. At the time, the Binibining Pilipinas 2022 first runner-up expressed dismay over delays in her national costume’s arrival, which led her to have a “plan B” sent to Uganda instead.
Budol was announced as the Philippines’ delegate in the Miss Planet International pageant back in August. /ra
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