"How long will Stella Marquez de Araneta, now 77 yrs old, keep the Miss Universe franchise?"Madame Stella Marquez-Araneta keeps the Miss Philippines Universe franchise as long as she is alive, as the Philippine franchise was acquired for her by her husband; she still has several years ahead of her.
After her tenure, the chair of the Miss Philippines Universe franchise will be passed on to male relative of her husband (Araneta), but her South American friends and relations will still play an active role in it.
Although the head of the franchise, Madame Araneta has been delegating more and more work in the recent years, due to her age, to her close friends and even relatives. The Colombian fashion designer Alfredo Barraza, who designs the gowns that Miss Philippines Universe gets to wear at the Miss Universe pageant, will stay. There will be no change in this set up in the foreseeable future.
In running the Miss Universe chapter here in the Philippines, Madame Araneta is basically serious, especially in her younger years, although at times her approach and policies have often bordered on being too commercialized. It is after all, a major business for her and her husband. But again in the recent years, she has left more of the operation of the franchise to her various South American friends, like the fashion designer Alfredo Barraza, as mentioned earlier. Her husband, every now and then, gets to lend a hand.
Admittedly these friends of hers, in taking over the hands on running the organization, have had a not so positive effect on the franchise which can often be seen in the approach and the presentation of candidates to the Miss Universe pageants. With everything that is said, at the end of the day, the Araneta couple is generally pleased with the outcome of how their business is run, as well as the profits.
Reading Date: January 9, 2015
Photo Sources: Various
