Ahtisa Manalo reflects on Miss Universe 2025: 'I thought it was between me and Côte d'Ivoire'

Ahtisa Manalo got candid as she looked back on her Miss Universe 2025 journey, sharing that she thought the crown came down to her and Olivia Yace of Côte d'Ivoire. 

The Filipina beauty queen guested in Vice Ganda's latest vlog where she was asked about the finalists' performance if she were one of the judges on coronation night. 

"I was hoping that I would win, I thought it was between me and Côte d'Ivoire during that night because I was able to hear everyone's answers," she shared.. 

Ahtisa explained that she did not really get to watch the others' performance earlier in the night, but the question-and-answer portion was a different story. 

"When you're there, when you're competing, you focus on yourself, you don't focus on other people pero pag Q&A na syempre wala ka na magagawa dun so makikinig ka na lang, so I thought it was between me and Cote d'Ivoire. And syempre story ko 'to so akong bida, syempre pag ako 'yung nag-judge, ako 'yung panalo," she added.

For the final question, the Top 5 candidates were asked, "If you win the title of Miss Universe tonight, how would you use this platform to empower young girls?"

Ahtisa had talked about her work with the non-profit organization Alon Akademie, which empowers the youth through entrepreneurship and education. 

“I work with an organization called Alon Akademie where we work with young people to provide them opportunities to make them realize that it doesn’t matter what your life circumstances is, it doesn’t define where you will go. And I want to continue working with Alon Academy in a platform like Miss Universe to pursue making sure that people from low-income backgrounds are given the same opportunities like everyone else," she said during the final Q&A. 

In the previous week, Ahtisa held her grand homecoming in Candelaria, Quezon. Prior to this, she had two homecoming parades in Manila and Pasay. 

Ahtisa clinched the 3rd runner-up spot in Miss Universe 2025, while Olivia finished fourth runner-up. Olivia was also named Miss Universe Africa & Oceania, but she resigned from her post as continental queen days later. 

Mexico's Fatima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe 2025. 

—CDC, GMA Integrated News