Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The Philippines will host the next Miss Universe pageant, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said Thursday.

The 2016 pageant will be held on January 30, 2017, she said.

"We have a President that comes from Mindanao and our Miss Universe is from Mindanao so I think this is the best time for us to do the Miss Universe here in the Philippines," she said.

Teo said the Department of Tourism is considering holding the pageant at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Teo told said President Rodrigo Duterte requested organizers to stage related events outside Metro Manila to avoid adding to the traffic. Some of the places being considered are Boracay, Palawan, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Vigan.

Last July 18, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach paid a courtesy call on Duterte to convince him to agree to the DoT's plan to hold the pageant in the country.

Duterte was previously quoted in a report saying he will not spend money to host Miss Universe. "Dili ko [mugasto]," he was quoted saying.

[Translation: I won’t spend for it.]

Teo said hosting the pageant will cost about $11 million, but the government “is not going to spend a single centavo.”

“It will be the private sector that will shoulder the expenses," she said.

However, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said on Friday the government may extend its “services” during the event.

Teo said Duterte did not veto the proposal to hold the next Miss Universe pageant in the Philippines. She said the deal was done during the President’s meeting with Wurtzbach in Malacañang. Duterte is expected to issue an administrative order on the Philippines’ hosting of the pageant before the end of the month, Teo said.

After the report that the country will no longer host the pageant came out, Teo said she called Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea for clarification. Medialdea said the President hasn’t changed his mind.

"I told him, 'Is it okay for me to announce that the Miss Universe will be here in the Philippines?' And he said yes," Teo said.

Teo also said she had to reassure the management of Miss Universe, particularly Vice President Shawn McLane, who immediately contacted DoT Undersecretary Kat de Castro asking whether the initial news reports were true.

DoT Media Director Ina Zara said the President of the Miss Universe Organization Paula Shugart proposed the hosting of the pageant to other countries as well, but the Philippines has been the top choice from the start — and Pia Wurtzbach was one of the reasons for that.

The Philippines has hosted the pageant twice, the most recent in 1994 when India's Sushmita Sen took home the crown.

The Philippines' bet Maxine Medina said she is confident of bringing the country's first back-to-back win at the 65th Miss Universe pageant.

Related: Know more about Miss Universe Philippines 2016 Maxine Medina

CNN Philippines' Digital Producer Lara Tan contributed to this report.