Miss Universe fourth runner-up Ma. Venus Raj of the Philippines has denied allegations that she “sabotaged" the widely criticized national costume of Ms. Australia during this year's Miss Universe Pageant in Nevada, USA. In an interview by Showbiz Central aired on Sunday, 22-year-old Raj denied sticking pins into the national costume of 18-year-old Miss Universe-Australia Jesinta Campbell, who won second runner-up in the competition. “Hindi ako naniniwala na sinabi niya 'yun kasi we're very close. May best friend siya na Pilipino, roommates kami sa LA. Pag nag-uusap kami ng best friend niya, tina-translate sa kanya. Hindi ko alam na sasabihin niya ang mga ganun," Raj said. (I don't believe that she said that because we were very close. She has a Filipino best friend, and Jesinta and I were roommates in LA. When her best friend and I talk, we translate for her. I don't think she can say those things.) She added that Campbell herself clarified the matter in a message via the microblogging site Twitter.
"
Nag-message
siya sa Twitter.
Sabi niya, hindi daw totoo yung lumalabas sa news na sinabi niyang it was Philippines and Mexico.
Oo may nangyaring ganun pero hindi siya nag-drop
ng names," Raj said. (Jesinta posted a message on Twitter, where she denied accusing Ms. Philippines or Ms. Mexico for that. She said the sabotage indeed happened but she did not drop names.) Raj likewise said it could not have been possible for her to do what Campbell was accusing her of doing as she did not know the Australian bet's room in Las Vegas where the beauty pageant was held. "
Hindi ko matandaan kung alin yung national costume
niya. And definitely
hindi ko gagawin ‘yun… Sa Las Vegas,
hindi ko alam kung ano'ng room number
siya kaya hindi ko rin magagawa ‘yun," she explained. (I don’t remember what her national costume looked like. And I definitely wouldn’t do that. I don’t know her room number in Las Vegas, so I wouldn’t have been able to do that.) Campbell reportedly said her national costume could have been sabotaged by the other contestants. "I put it on just before I was due to go out on parade but I felt these sharp pains when something stuck into my back… I took the top off and found all these pins had been stuck into it. I didn't have any injuries or marks but I didn't have much time to take them out and get it back on because I had to be out there right away,"
she told The Daily Telegraph. She added she could not think of suspects, but said the contestants from Mexico, Central and South American countries, and Philippines were very competitive. "Winning is so important for those girls because they become queens and are worshiped if they win, and it changes everything forever for them," she said in the article. "But there were 82 other girls there and I can't narrow it down, so it's a mystery to me. But I know who didn't do it – my best friends were the girls from Ireland, Belgium, Britain and Guam and I know they wouldn't have done it to me," Campbell added. Campbell’s national dress – made up of high-heeled boots; a brown, one-piece swimsuit hand-painted by an Aboriginal artist; a lamb’s wool shrug; and a wide, flamenco-style rainbow skirt – had been described by fashion critics as “a national joke" and a “travesty". For her part, Raj chose not to mind the controversy, saying she is instead devoting her time to fulfilling her obligations, including supporting her family. "
Kung magtatrabaho ako, ako na lang muna para si mama, medyo matanda na siya, pahinga na rin muna siya (If I will be working, I’ll let my mom take a break and just rest because she’s getting quite old)," Raj said.
- KBK, GMANews.TV 
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