Ahtisa Manalo on her biological father: 'We don't have a relationship'

Ahtisa Manalo admitted that she has no relationship with her biological father, whom she was named after.

During a press conference following the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 coronation night, Ahtisa was asked about the origin of her unique name. She shared how people often mispronounce or misspell her name, but she doesn't mind because she knows they are referring to her.

"My father's name, my biological father who's Finnish, his name is Ahti. And my mom added an -sa for it to be more feminine," Ahtisa said.

When directly asked about her relationship with her father, Ahtisa said, "I don't have a relationship with my father."

"We don’t have a relationship. We speak every once in a while. But there's no father-daughter relationship just because I've never met him and we don't really speak a lot," she said.

Ahtisa was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2025 on Friday.

In her winning answer, she talked about her late grandmother, saying winning the national crown is their shared dream.

"This is my ode to her," she said during the pageant's question and answer portion.

In the same press conference, Ahtisa credited her lola, saying, "A lot of the way I am is because of her, is because of how she raised me."

Ahtisa will represent the Philippines in Miss Universe 2025, which will take place on November 21 at the Impact Muong Thong Thani Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Ahtisa on her Finnish biological father: We don’t have a relationship. We speak every once in a while. But there’s no father-daughter relationship. pic.twitter.com/exjjNo4oHJ

— Carby Basina (@CarbyGMANews) May 7, 2025

—MGP, GMA Integrated News