WORLD Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will be one of the judges at the Miss Universe pageant, the coronation night of which will be on Jan. 25.
Pacquiao is among other famous celebrities chosen to be this year’s members of judging panel that also includes famous shoe designer Kristin Cavallari, People En Espanol’s Sexiest Man Alive William Levy, TV star Lisa Vanderpump and fashion journalist Louise Roe. This is not the first time that Pacquiao will be featured in the Miss Universe contest. In December 2012, Donald Trump’s Miss Universe Organization tried to ride on the Las Vegas Pacquiao-Marquez match by asking Miss Philippines Janine Tugonon and Miss Mexico Karina Gonzalez to promote the pageant. Gonzalez finished in the Top 10, while Tugonon missed the crown as first runner up.
Previous Filipino judges in the Miss Universe beauty pageant were known to be unsupportive of contestants from their country. Kuh Ledesma in 1991 and Lea Salonga in 2011 were said to have favored contestants from other countries. Can Pacquiao be any different from the other Filipinos?
It will be up to Lastimosa to earn the judges’ votes and win on her own merits, which many believe she is capable of. She should not hope that the world-boxing champion would propel her to become the next Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown.