Rabiya Mateo shares her thoughts a week after winning 2020 Miss Universe Philippines

Iloilo City beauty queen Rabiya Mateo considers winning the title of Miss Universe Philippines this year a “blessing” to her life.

Photo taken from Rabiya Mateo's Instagram account

Rabiya took to Instagram last Monday, November 2 to share her innermost feelings and her experience so far after claiming the crown.

She posted, “It's been a week since I won Miss Universe Philippines but there's a lot of blessings that came to me. I would always start and end my day with a prayer to thank God for leading me to the right kind of people. I would also pray to Him to toughen my heart and spirit as I go along each day.”

In her exclusive interview with the morning show Unang Hirit last month, the morena beauty talked about how the upside of being an “underdog” helped her win the title.

Rabiya explained, “As of the moment, I feel na ang dami-daming tao na 'yung nagsu-support sa akin even though I started as the underdog kasi dati hindi naman ako nakakapasok sa mga prediction list ng mga mananalo.

“And then nung papalit na ng papalit 'yung competition, people are starting to recognize me, and they're starting to recall my name.

“So, I feel like I was able to peak at the right time, and that has been my advantage.”

The Philippines has produced four Miss Universe titlists: Gloria Diaz (1969), Margie Moran (1973), Pia Wurtzbach (2015), and Catriona Gray (2018).

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