The Miss World T&T Organisation has stripped its reigning representative Sherrece Villafana of her title. In a release yesterday, head of the organisation, Athaliah Samuel, a former Ms T&T representative herself, cited conduct that was not in keeping with the “high moral and ethical obligations” of the organisation as the reason for the decision. In telephone interview, Samuel said Villafana, 19, was dethroned because of a dispute over funds she received from the Office of the Prime Minister.
According to Samuel, on August 14, Villafana collected a $200,000 cheque from the Office of the Prime Minister, which was given in support of her trip to the Miss World pageant in Indonesia from August 28 to October 4. Samuel said the organisation only became aware of the donation during a post mortem meeting on November 6 and had received confirmation from the OPM that Villafana had collected the cheque. “I didn’t expect that type of behaviour from a person who is supposed to represent me and my country,” she added.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Villafana confirmed she collected and cashed the cheque from the Office of the Prime Minister because it was in her name. However, she said she handed over the money to two pageant committee members. Those funds, Villafana said, were spent on dresses, shoes and other accessories for her participation in the pageant.
When asked about the allegation by Samuel that she (Villafana) did not tell them about collecting the cheque, Villafana said: “Why? I gave it to them. They are on the committee.” Samuel confirmed that the committee members who allegedly received the money did not show up for the post mortem meeting on November 6 but sent a note prior to the meeting saying their work with the organisation “was finished.” When asked if the committee members had officially resigned, Samuel said no, adding the note was all she had received.