MANILA, Philippines — Philippine bet Rabiya Mateo showed off her beach body to the universe as she ramped down during the swimsuit segment at the Miss Universe 2020 preliminaries held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA.
Rabiya wore a yellow two-piece swimsuit, drawing cheers from the crowd.
The host described Rabiya as the country’s education ambassador while displaying her "Halabira walk" on stage.
“Rabiya is currently an ambassador for her country's Department of Education. This-24 year-old graduate works as a teacher and enjoys writing stories and acting in her spare time,” the host said.
During Friday’s national costume competition, Rabiya wore a feathery Vegas-like ensemble inspired by the Philippine flag.
Rabiya looked stunning in her national costume designed by the late Filipino international designer Rocky Gathercole.
“This outfit is inspired by the Philippine flag. The blue represents royalty, red stands for the courage and strength for an independent woman and yellow, the color of sun and stars, symbolizes freedom to choose whoever you want to be,” the host said while Rabiya walked on stage.
It was also reported earlier that Furne One of Amato Couture will be the designer of Rabiya's evening gowns for the preliminary and final shows.
"Yes, for the gowns, they're all custom-made, meaning all hand made. So we spent around 10,000 hours for four gowns. It's different, Albert and Jonas contacted me to do this even though I'm more on avant garde designs than pageant designs, 'coz they want me to do a different take on pageantry," revealed the Dubai-based Filipino designer in an online interview.