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Philippine bet Rabiya Mateo underscored the importance of education in her introduction video for the 69th Miss Universe.

The Ilongga beauty queen, a teacher by profession, said that education had transformed her life from “humble beginnings.”

Source: rabiyamateo (Instagram)

“I really had my humble beginnings, and education has transformed my life.

"Now, I am a teacher, and I hope that my students will see the value of education the way that I saw it,” she said.

Rabiya also believes that education is the “social equalizer” of the poor families in the Philippines.

“I live in a country where there's a lot of poor families and education is our social equalizer that regardless of what background you have, what's status of your family, if you educate yourself you will be able to land a great job.

“If I will be crowned as your next Miss Universe, I will do my best to champion for other people because we need nowadays is not just a beauty queen with a pretty face, but we need phenomenal women who are not afraid to speak and to stand for the things that they believe in,” she ended.

Rabiya trended in November 2020 for her comment about Filipino resilience during her interview with GMA News pillar Jessica Soho for Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.

Instead of simply relying on resilience, she has urged for concrete and tangible solutions to help Filipinos who were then struggling in the aftermath of Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses.

“Marami ang nagsasabi, Rabiya, na oo nga nakapa-resilient ng mga Pilipino, pero hanggang du'n na lang ba?

"Parang hindi rin tama na dadaanin na lang ang lahat sa ating pagiging resilient.

“'Yung resiliency, parang overused siya to the point na sometimes we don't look at the problems to find the solution, and we just tell other people na all we need to do is have a positive mindset and we're gonna overcome this.

“But where are the tangible problems to help the people being affected by such situation.

"So yes, iba 'pag may positive outlook but again kailangan natin magkaroon ng tangible and visible solution.

“Hindi tayo magle-learn, hindi natin mapapabuti 'yung community natin if puro resiliency na lang,” she said at the time.

Source: rabiyamateo (Instagram)

The beauty queen also mobilized an initiative to help those who have been affected by the typhoon.

The 69th Miss Universe competition will be held on May 16 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Take a look at Rabiya Mateo's journey to Miss Universe in this gallery below: