FREE FLIP FLOPS FOR EVERY MAR ROXAS SUPPORTER

imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – It’s been said many times that behind every man’s success is a woman. Well, that is certainly true in history as it is in contemporary politics.

In the Philippines, Imelda Marcos is widely acknowledged as the inspiration (or force) that spelled the late President Ferdinand Marcos’ success and staying power.

It’s 2015, and there’s a new batch of Filipino women that are the driving force behind their husband’s political careers. At least one woman that we know of: broadcaster Korina Sanchez, a.k.a., Mrs. Mar Roxas.

Even before Roxas declared his candidacy for president of the Philippines, Sanchez has been a staunch supporter and defender of her husband. Many will recall that she came to the defense of Roxas when CNN’s Anderson Cooper criticized the slow response of the Aquino government (and, by extension, the Department of Interior and Local Government of which Roxas was secretary)  to the plight of the victims of typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda).

Political strategists had warned that  Sanchez’ penchant for making frequent controversial public statements (like when she said on the air that she hoped an impending typhoon that was about to approach the Philippines would veer towards Japan instead) could be detrimental to her husband’s candidacy.  So against her will, she has been staying quietly in the background while her husband did all the talking and campaigning.

But now that her husband’s standing in the polls is not looking very good, Sanchez is again stepping up  — in a very public way — to help her husband secure the votes he needs to become the next Philippine president.

Sanchez has just launched “Tsinelas mula kay Roxas,” (flip flops from Roxas), a nation-wide campaign in which Sanchez will hand out a pair of her infamous slippers or flip flops to every Filipino voter who would pledge to vote for her husband.

So voters, get them now while supplies last!

PRESIDENT AQUINO SECRETLY WISHED MISS PHILIPPINES DIDN’T BECOME MISS UNIVERSE

imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – On the night of December 20 (December 21 morning, Philippine time),  millions of Filipinos were glued to their television sets hoping and praying that their candidate, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, would be crowned 2015 Miss Universe.

The rest is history.  Despite the initial mix-up in the announcement of the 1st runner-up and the new Miss Universe, the pageant-fanatical Filipinos celebrated with gusto soon after Steve Harvey corrected himself to say that it was Miss Philippines, not Miss Colombia, who had won the crown.

Now, it can be told.  There was one Filipino who had been secretly wishing that Wurtzbach didn’t  win the crown — Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino.

It is no secret that Aquino had supposedly dated Wurtzbach soon after she won the local crown as Miss Philippines-Universe.  Aquino’s sister Kris even talked about it on her television show, promising Wurtzbach that she would try to be a nice sister-in-law.

The president, a bachelor, had been wanting to bring a First Lady to the presidential palace before his term expired in 2016. He had wished that First Lady to be Wurtzbach.

But alas, that is not going to happen.

As Miss Universe, Wurtzbach has an exclusive year-round contract with the Miss Universe Organization.  She has to remain single in order to retain her crown. That means the end of her one-year reign would be too late for Aquino who steps down as president on June 30, 2016.

As a consolation to Aquino, he will go down in Philippine history as the only bachelor to occupy  Malacanang Palace!

WME/IMG: NO CHOICE BUT TO BRING BACK STEVE HARVEY AS MISS UNIVERSE HOST

Harvey and first unner-up Miss Colombia
Harvey and first unner-up Miss Colombia

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (The Adobo Chronicles) – Despite the blunder committed by host Steve Harvey in crowning the wrong Miss Universe, the comedian and game show host will be coming back next year in Belize and several more years after that.

WME/IMG, the new owners of the Miss Universe Organization, said that they have no choice — Harvey signed a multi-year contract to host the annual international beauty pageant.

A source close to production tells Entertainment Tonight (ET) that the 58-year-old Family Feud host signed a multi-year contract to host Miss Universe just days before the pageant aired Sunday, and that his paycheck is “more than they’ve ever paid before for a host.”

The source says the deal is for at least three years, possibly even as many as six or seven.

But not to worry, WME/IMG has taken steps to prevent a repeat of this year’s pageant fiasco.

In future editions of contest, the new Miss Universe will not be crowned for at least four minutes following the final announcement by Harvey.  During that time, the top three finalists will be shown the cue card which contains the names/countries of the 2nd runner-up, 1st runner-up and Miss Universe. Once all three have confirmed the results, they will all give a thumbs up.  Only then will the crown be placed on the head of the new Miss Universe.

All’s well that ends well.