MANILA - The Miss Universe 2016 pageant will be a reunion of former beauty queens.

Speaking on DZMM, Tourism Undersecretary Kat de Castro said Tuesday that former Miss Universe titleholders will be among the judges for the upcoming pageant.

"Ang gusto nilang gawin sa Miss Universe Philippine edition is parang reunion ng mga reyna sa Miss Universe. So abangan natin 'yan," she said.

It has been announced earlier that both 1993 Miss Universe winner Dayanara Torres and 1994 winner Sushmita Sen will return to the Philippines as judges.

• READ: Sushmita Sen to return to Manila as Miss Universe judge

There will also be changes in the format of the pageant. From 86 candidates, judges will be announcing the top 12 during the coronation night.

"Lahat po ng makukuha sa top 12 ay, of course, base doon sa magaganap na preliminaries bukas (Wednesday)," De Castro said.

"Meron ding makakapasok sa top 12 dahil sa online voting. Nag-start na po 'yung online voting kahapon, Monday, at tuloy tuloy na po 'yan hanggang January 29," De Castro added.

According to De Castro, the organizers of the pageant wanted to give the audience more time to know more about the top 12 finalists.

"I think the reason for Miss Universe doing that is mas gusto nila talaga mas mahaba 'yung airtime para makilala natin 'yung top 12 finalists. After ng top 12, magiging top 9, top 6, and then finally, top 3," she said.

"So parang mas gusto nila na makilala 'yung mga babae, 'yung mga finalist, 'yung top 12 mismo," De Castro added.

The 65th Miss Universe coronation will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 30.