‘I’m no Trump,’ says battle-hardened sponsor of Miss Universe in Manila

Luis Singson, a larger-than-life Filipino tycoon who has brought the Miss Universe pageant to Manila, has much in common with the man who owned the franchise two years ago: US President Donald Trump.

Both men are immensely wealthy and are immersed in politics. Both have a cologne named after them. And, in their own countries, both are synonymous with a globally televised beauty contest that has often been buffeted by politics.

Singson, a provincial police chief who survived bloody gun battles in a family feud and then became a governor, however says he doesn’t see himself as a Trump in the making.

“We’re very different,” Singson said in an interview at his Manila mansion, its walls hung with photos of him posing with wild animals he has hunted and killed. “I’m going to give away my money. I don’t think Trump can do that.”

Singson’s LCS Group of Companies said it has paid US$13 million in a one-off deal to bring Miss Universe to the Philippines, where the contest will be held on Monday morning to cater to Sunday night TV audiences in the West. It will be carried on the Fox network in the United States.

Singson, long-time governor of the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Sur before handing over to his son in 2013, amassed a fortune through agriculture, mining and transport. He hopes the beauty pageant will boost tourism and banish ugly headlines about his country’s bloody war on drugs.