By Alex Y. Vergara
The whole nation held its breath as Miss Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo made it to the Top 21 of the 69th edition of Miss Universe in Hollywood, Florida. Rabiya, a teacher and Physical Therapy graduate from Iloilo, won the coveted Miss Universe Philippines crown last October, which earned her the chance to represent the country in this year’s competition. The 11-day event concluded Sunday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Café Hotel & Casino with Mexico’s Andre Meza as winner.
A heavy favorite to make it to the finals, Rabiya was the 15th semifinalist to be called to the Top 20. She joined the stage with other heavy favorites from India, Puerto Rico and Thailand. She also shone in the preliminary competition two days ago in a beaded canary yellow gown by Furne One.
The 24-year-old Ilongga’s journey to clinch the elusive crown ended when she didn’t make it to the Top 10, bowing out to rivals from Australia, India, Costa Rica, Thailand, Puerto Rico and Mexico, among others. The number was later trimmed down to Top 5: Mexico, India, Dominican Republic, Peru and Brazil. Their answer to the judges’ questions and final statements determined their fate. India, Peru and Mexico had been heavy favorites to clinch the crown soon after the 74 contestants strutted their stuff two days ago in the preliminary competition.
In the end, Andrea, a 26-year-old software engineer from Chihuahua, edged out her four rivals to become the new Miss Universe. Her runners up are: Brazil, first runner-up; Peru, second runner-up; India, third runner-up and Dominican Republic, fourth runner-up.
Had she made it to the Top 5, Rabiya would have been the fifth Filipino woman to have earned a shot at arguably the most popular global beauty pageant among Filipinos.
