Personal umanong humingi ng paumanhin si Rabiya Mateo kina Miss Universe Canada Nova Stevens at Miss Universe Thailand Amanda Obdam dahil sa hindi magagandang komento sa kanila ng ilang Filipino fans.

Sa ulat ng PEP.ph, sinabi ni Rabiya, pambato ng Pilipinas sa naturang Miss Universe pageant, na personal siyang nagpaabot ng mensahe sa dalawa at humingi ng paumanhin.

"I actually personally sent messages to Amanda, to Nova saying sorry because these hate speeches that we see online, this is not a reflection of who we are as Filipinos," saad ni Rabiya.

"I can say that we do love pageants, and we support girls. And with Miss Universe, the goal is to celebrate the differences and to be with the girls and the cause that they stand for," dagdag niya.

Ikinalungkot din ni Rabiya ang racist comments na binanggit ni Nova.

"I saw the post of Nova earlier today and I really feel sorry [for] her because nobody deserves to be in that position," ani Rabiya.

"I've been bashed, you know. And there was a moment that a lot of people would tell me, 'That's normal, you're a beauty queen.' But I've seen how... it affected not just me but also other candidates. We have a WhatsApp group and we would talk about it," patuloy niya.

Sinabi ni Rabiya na humingi na siya ng tulong sa kaniyang mga tagasuporta na isumbong ang mga nagba-bash online.

Plano niya rin gumawa ng anti-bullying video campaign video at hikayatin ang mga tao na itigil ang mga komentong nakasasakit ng damdamin.

"I would always campaign, as a person, I do not tolerate bullying in all forms and in all ways. That's why I'm actually planning to make a video, me and the organization is planning to make a video to make an appeal to the public to stop being rude because it costs nothing to be kind," ayon kay Rabiya.

"And it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel nice [to be bashed]. And I need to do something to stop it," dagdag niya.

Nitong Martes, nag-post si Stevens ng mga natanggap niyang racist comments mula sa ilang Pinoy.

Nag-post din siya ng mga positibong komento mula sa ilang Filipino.— FRJ, GMA News