Janina San Miguel leaves Mrs. Face of Tourism pageant, but organizer says door ‘not closed’
Janina San Miguel/ARMIN P. ADINA
MANILA, Philippines — Just days after she was introduced as an official candidate of the Mrs. Face of Tourism, former Binibining Pilipinas World Janina San Miguel-Sahota abruptly ended her pageant comeback.
In a social media post on the evening of March 7, the pageant announced San Miguel’s withdrawal from the pageant. This is the second time that she thought of leaving the pageant.
“It is with regret that we announce the end of [San Miguel’s] journey to the crown representing Quezon City in the Mrs. Face of Tourism Philippines 2023 pageant,” the pageant said.
The pageant, which is staging its inaugural edition, continued: “She will no longer be part of the competition, and any association or reference to our organization with her name will not be acknowledged by us.”
When INQUIRER sought clarification, pageant organizer Annie Refrea said in an online interview that nothing is final yet. While Refrea said San Miguel left their message group, she remained hopeful that the beauty queen will still change her mind.
“We are working on it with her manager, so I hope there’s a win-win situation that is going to happen… She deserves a second chance if she changed her mind. I will not take her out,” she continued. “Again, we are not closing the door for her. There is still time for her to come back since our workshop and contract signing is yet to happen.”
“Who knows, she might change her mind at the end of the week. And I hope she does,” Refrea added.
Earlier this year, the Mrs. Face of Tourism Philippines pageant caught the public’s attention when it introduced San Miguel as one of the applicants who registered for the screening in Laguna. The competition was launched last year, and had already accepted applicants late in 2022. But it was only after her public appearance, 15 years after capturing her Bb. Pilipinas title at 17, that the new national contest was able to create some significant noise for itself.
The erstwhile national titleholder became known in pageant and social media circles after a video of her amusing responses to the question-and-answer round of the 2008 Bb. Pilipinas pageant went viral online and opened her to public ridicule. During her recent screening, however, San Miguel impressed the netizens with her newfound confidence and with a marked improvement in speaking in English. Her youthful spunk has remained all these years.
Insiders said San Miguel had an argument with director Marky Delos Santos, prompting her to withdraw from the competition. The Inquirer tried to reach out to the beauty queen to get her side, but she has not responded as of the time of this writing. EDV
