Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach: ‘US military presence is aid, security’

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach said on Sunday that she stands firm on her answer regarding US military presence in the country which raised eyebrows among activists and some politicians.

Speaking to the press during her homecoming press conference, Wurtzbach said that Filipinos should consider that the answer she gave during the question-and-answer portion seemed to be the best that she could come up with given the situation she was put into.

“The reason why some people have some strong opinions on this is because it’s different when you’re sitting and you were watching it on TV and you were given time to think about the answer. You guys should take into consideration what it felt for me to stand there, hear the question and think of the answer right away,” she said.

On her part, she said that her answer does not necessarily mean that she favors the reestablishment of military bases in the country.

“From what I understand, military presence is different from military bases. Military presence to me sounds like aid, military help, security. So for me, it didn’t sound wrong. So that’s why I’m sticking with my answer,” Wurtzbach said.

She said that she is willing to lend her ears to the opinion of those who were not satisfied with her answer.

“However, if some people are very strongly against it, I respect their opinon, and if ever they want to talk to me about their stand on it, I would gladly listen. I am open to listening to different kinds of opinion,” the beauty queen said.

Wurtzbach came under fire after some activists construed her answer on military presence as pro-American.

“I think that the United States and the Philippines have always had a good relationship with each other. We were colonized by the Americans and we have their culture and our traditions even up to this day and I think that we’re very welcoming with the Americans. And I don’t see any problem with that at all,” she said during the top 5 contestant’s question-and-answer portion of the pageant which she eventually won.

Even presidential aspirant Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said that she wants to talk to Wurtzbach regarding her answer. Santiago has assailed the constitutionality of both the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. JE