Rabiya Mateo, Philippines’ bet in the 69th Miss Universe ended her journey after the swimsuit competition.
Rabiya showed her fitness in her yellow swimsuit which believed to be a symbol of the sun that supposed to complete her national costume.
Miss Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo made it to the top 21 of the competition together with:
Dominican Republic
India
Peru
Australia
Puerto Rico
Thailand
Costa Rica
Mexico
Brazil
Rabiya Mateo ends Miss Universe journey
She worked hard in college until she graduated from cum laude physical therapy course in 2018 at Iloilo Doctors College.
She worked as a lecturer at a physical therapy review center before joining Miss Universe Philippines.
“I said in my free speech, na education is talaga the gateway to success. I have experienced it first hand.”
“Sabi ko, this was just a dream, sabi ko wala talagang impossible once you put your heart and soul into something that you really want to do,” said Mateo.
According to the beauty queen from Iloilo, her mother raised her alone.
“I offer the success to my single mother, ang lahat siguro ng mga doubts ko in the past, lahat ng pagsusumikap, parang ngayon ko lang nakuha ang results,” said Mateo, 23 years old.
Mateo’s mother is Filipina from Iloilo, while her father is Indian. The new Miss Universe Philippines said her father abandoned them when she was only 5 years old.
“We were abandoned when I was around 5 years old. I have a younger brother, same dad, same mom. My mom was the only one who raised us,” Rabiya Mateo said.
Rabiya Mateo said she became the breadwinner of the family at an early age.
“Since broken family kami, hindi talaga masaya ang buhay. I can say hindi siya smooth kasi maraming problems, especially when it comes to finances. That’s why at an early age, naging breadwinner ako ng family while being a full scholar. I was doing some modeling gigs just to earn money na pambaon ko lang,” she said.
According to Mateo, education was her way of fighting poverty.
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