This is the worst thing Rabiya Mateo was called after becoming Miss Universe Philippines

Among the many comments she received after she won Miss Universe Philippines 2020, Rabiya Mateo said being called a mistress was the worst.

In an episode of “The Boobay and Tekla Show,” the Ilongga beauty queen said the comment was not fair since she worked hard for the title. 

“Dark horse ako noon, wala akong kapanga-pangalan, galing sa probinsya. Yung narinig kong issue is, ‘Ah, kabit ‘yan kaya nanalo ‘yan’," Rabiya narrated.

"That was nasty,” she added.

[“I was a dark horse before, I don’t have a name, I came from the province. The issue I heard was that, ‘The reason she won is because she’s a mistress,’ and that was nasty.”]

“Isa akong babae kung saan lahat ng meron ako, pinaghihirapan ko [I’m a woman who works hard for everything that I have now],” she added.

According to Rabiya, the first thing she did when she heard of the rumor was talk to her mom.

“Kung may makikita tayong masasakit na comments, kung ako masasaktan, times 10 ‘yon sa nanay ko so siya talaga yung sinabihan ko,” she said.

[“If we see hurtful comments, if I get hurt, that’s times 10 for my mom so I told her about it.”]

“‘Ma, tatagan mo yung loob mo kasi yung pinasok ko, public property na ‘ko. Wala na tayo say sa gagawing issue ng mga tao. Ang importante, alam natin na mabuti tayo kahit walang nakatingin.”

[‘Mom, be strong because in the industry I entered, I’m already a public property. We don’t have a say on the issues that people make. What’s important is we know we’re good even if no one’s looking.”]

Rabiya said she learned that one should not be too sensitive “the hard way,” and eventually realized that she can’t stop others from saying what they want.

“We have to understand na hindi mo control kung anong sasabihin ng mga tao pero control mo kung paano ka mag-react sa mga sinasabi nila,” she said.

[“We have to understand that you can’t control what other people will say but you have control on how you would react to what they say.”]

Rabiya previously shared she once also believed that she isn’t beautiful because of her morena skin because of the hateful comments that people threw at her.

Rabiya won the Miss Universe Philippines crown in October 2020, and finished in the Top 21 at the 69th Miss Universe pageant last May.

She was previously in a relationship with Neil Salvacion, with whom she confirmed the breakup in June. — Franchesca Viernes/LA, GMA News