‘I want to go home’: Herlene Budol bares Miss Planet International experience 

MANILA, Philippines – Shortly after officially withdrawing from the pageant, Herlene Nicole Budol shared her experience at the Miss Planet International competition, revealing that she begged the organizers to allow her and her fellow delegates to return to their home countries. 

Budol’s manager and Miss Planet Philippines national director Wilbert Tolentino uploaded a vlog on Tuesday, November 15, documenting Budol’s pageant journey in Uganda. 

The 35-minute video opened with clips of Budol attending rehearsals with her fellow delegates and participating in other pre-pageant activities. 

Tolentino first announced Budol’s withdrawal from the pageant on November 11, saying that it was due to “pageant debacles.” He added that it was a “traumatic experience for all of [them],” but at that time, did not go into detail.

In the vlog, it was disclosed that the delegates were allegedly not provided with any food during their stay and that the original venue backed out from sponsoring the pageant because of unsettled payments, resulting in some delegates and their respective teams booking their own accommodation in Uganda. 

The vlog also included sentiments from other delegates who took to social media to air out their frustration over the organizers. The video disclosed that four to six candidates had already withdrawn from the pageant before Tolentino decided to pull Budol out of the competition, as they would run out of money if they continued their stay, . 

Budol was then seen in tears as she talked to the organizers about letting them leave. “I want to go home…. I want to go out, I have a driver here,” she said in between sobs.

Another candidate can also be heard telling the organizers that the delegates should be allowed to back out from the pageant: “Let them go, let the girls leave. She wants to leave, she doesn’t have [to stay]. It’s her right to leave.” 

It was only after several discussions that Budol was allowed to leave the venue along with other candidates. They then had to stay in their temporary homes in Uganda.

As of writing, it remains unclear whether Budol and her team are still in Uganda or when they are coming back to the Philippines. 

On November 13, the Miss Planet International organization announced that the pageant has been postponed to January 2023 and will be held in Cambodia instead. 

Herlene, who rose to fame as the “Sexy Hipon Girl” from the variety show Wowowin, was named first runner-up in the Binibining Pilipinas 2022 pageant in May. She was announced as the country’s representative to the Miss Planet International pageant in August. – Rappler.com