Janina San Miguel, who became a YouTube celebrity after the national contest, resigned to the crown for personal reasons
MANILA, Sep. 30 - The Philippines' controversial representative to the 2008 Miss World beauty pageant, Janina San Miguel, has resigned, Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BCPI) said late Monday.
San Miguel won the Binibining Pilipinas contest last March despite having difficulty answering a judge's question in English.
"Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) regrets to announce that Ms. Janina San Miguel has resigned as official representative to the 2008 Miss World beauty pageant," the firm said in a brief statement released by Belle Baldoza, public relations officer of the Araneta Group.
"The untimely demise of her grandfather, among other personal reasons, has caused her undue stress, thus hindering her from fulfilling her duties for the said title," the BPCI said.
San Miguel's answer during the pageant, in cracked English, was immediately uploaded on YouTube and she became an instant celebrity.
It led to a national debate on whether only Filipinos who can speak English well deserve to win beauty contests.
Some language experts praised her for being able to give an answer to the question, saying Filipinos should not be embarrassed if they don't speak a foreign language well. They noted that many beauty contestants of other nations often answer in broken English but they would not be criticized by their own countrymen.
They said San Miguel was like Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao who is not embarrassed about speaking English despite his shortcomings on the language.
"In accordance with BPCI rules and regulations, 1st Runner-Up Danielle Castaño will replace Ms. San Miguel as the official Philippine representative to the Ms. World 2008 pageant," it added.
"BPCI wishes to express its gratitude to Ms. San Miguel for this act of graciousness and concern for the country. They also wish her well in her future endeavors," the company said.
The 2008 Miss World contest was supposed to take place in the Ukraine on October 4th; political reasons moved the pageant to South Africa in December.
courtesy of ABS-CBN
