Miss Universe president not keen on idea of Duterte as judge

The president of the Miss Universe organization Paula Shugart on Saturday quashed the notion of President Rodrigo Duterte judging for the upcoming international pageant in the Philippines.

In a brief interview with GMA News Online, Shugart said that they have a policy opposing the chance of having government officials on the panel.

"We tend not to have government officials involved. That's just my policy, we don't do that," she said. "It's the 65th anniversary so we want to focus on that."

The Department of Tourism Undersecretary Kat de Castro on Friday said that they want Duterte to judge the Miss Universe pageant to be held in January next year.

Shugart told GMA News Online that she is working on the judges list and it seems that Duterte's name is not likely to be on it. — ALG, GMA News