Miss Universe bill at $14M and counting, Chavit Singson says

A photo posted by 65thMissUniverse (@65thmissuniverse) on Jan 16, 2017 at 3:12am PST

CEBU CITY – Politician Luis “Chavit” Singson said Tuesday he was ready for a possible loss as the cost of mounting the Miss Universe pageant in the Philippines has run up to $14 million.

The former Ilocos Sur governor, who heads LCS Group of Companies, told ABS-CBN News that he was hoping to recoup his investments in two to three years.

Company estimates pointed to a loss or a slight profit, but Singson said he was helping out "for our country."

The windfall on tourism and local businesses that will host the 86 statuesque beauties will outweigh costs, he said.

“So far, tuloy tuloy pa ang gastos. Hindi namin alam kailan hihinto ito. Hindi naman pwedeng umatras na,” Singson said.

(Costs are piling up. We don’t know when it will stop. We can’t back out now.)

"Hindi na namin iniisip na marecover but for sure baka malugi na kami dito dahil continuous ang gastos," he said.

(We are not thinking about recovering our expenses. We could post a loss because the costs are continuous.)

Singson, Japanese gaming tycoon Kazuo Okada and Philippine television network Solar are among the sponsors of Miss Universe, which the Philippines is hosting for the third time in 43 years.

• READ: How much did Chavit, Okada spend for Miss Universe 2016?

The former governor, who runs a zoo in his home province, bought a triple-deck luxury yacht specifically for the event.

The reigning Miss Universe, the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach, will crown her successor during the finals on January 30.

Photo Courtesy of Solar, LCS, MUO