By Joseph B.A. Marzan
“The stars really aligned for Rabiya. There wasn’t anything heavy for her because she had the support of many here in Iloilo. It was her destiny to become a queen.”
On her way to becoming Miss Universe Philippines (MUP) 2020, Rabiya Occeña Mateo was heavily worried about her chances, confiding in her mentors and friends she wouldn’t make it to the top five.
A mentor, a designer, and a friend, each shared with Daily Guardian what she had to go through before bagging the crown.
While “glam teams” or the supporting teams were not allowed to come along with the candidates to the venue in Baguio City, Mateo had the support of several people to help her prepare for the pageant.
Ilonggo pageant aficionado and businessman Joe Marie Agriam recalled seeing Rabiya as a model working the local fashion scene while she was still a Physical Therapy student at the Iloilo Doctors College.
Agriam is also known as the mastermind behind Angelia Ong’s journey to winning Miss Philippines Earth 2015 and eventually Miss Earth 2015.
He said Mateo was the “perfect girl” he wanted to join Miss Iloilo, after promising one of the organizers that he would send the “most qualified” candidate.
“When Dennis [Mallada] sent her picture, I immediately said that [Mateo] was the girl I wanted to join the pageant. So I asked for her name and befriended her on Facebook, and I messaged her that I wanted her to join Miss Iloilo 2020,” Agriam recalled.
Even before the local Miss Iloilo pageant in January of this year, where she won the right to represent the city to the national pageant, she thought heavily on how she was going to win.
Her worries came from the fact that she had to fly to and from Manila to attend events, as she was also juggling pageantry with her work as a lecturer at a review center.
Agriam said Mateo was concerned about the money she needed to go home to Iloilo.
He was able to eagerly encourage Mateo to join, who he also recalled sternly saying, “Yes. I want to be a beauty queen.”
He then formed a team for her personality development, communication, talent, gown, and make-up.
She had to take vacation days from work as preparations for Miss Iloilo, and eventually resigned upon winning Miss Iloilo-Universe.
“At first she was hesitant, she said it was ‘magastos’ and she didn’t have any money to go home. I said money was not a problem, and that I had friends who can help her. I even told her that if she wanted, they can issue a plane ticket so she can attend the screening and weekend activities,” he added.
Agriam said he found no difficulty in prepping Mateo for the pageant, saying she was already “well-equipped” for the pageant.
She had to go back to Iloilo as lockdowns were being imposed due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
During this time, she wasn’t able to attend other official activities for the MUP pageant, which he said was dedicated to her promotions on social media.
She spent her time in Iloilo to provide food to frontliners and learned how to make Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for medical personnel.
Agriam also took the liberty of re-introducing Mateo to local fashion designers to provide support for her.
They made dresses which she wore to events while in Manila and Baguio.
“Rabiya was branded a ‘latecomer’ because she wasn’t able to come to pictorials for event sponsors. She still shot a pictorial in late September. What we did was we shot videos every day so she wouldn’t get left behind on social media. I think we made points there, because during the pageant, the videos of the lockdowns were all about her,” he said.
Despite her local support, there were still struggles when it came to monetary support for the national event.
“Locally, there were no problems because there were a lot of resources. The problems were really in Manila, with the budget and monetary support. She would need money for transportation, accommodation, food, vitamins, shoes, and make-up kits. We really provided here support, but we had to solicit, and I went around asking for support for her,” said Agriam.
He said that her win was a “mix of hard work and fate”.
“Rabiya really worked hard because she promised that she wouldn’t let us down. She was ready to win the crown. It was really her fate,” he said.
He added that if other girls wish to follow in Mateo’s footsteps, they would have to “discipline themselves”.
“If they really want to join, they have to discipline themselves. Rabiya really made efforts to discipline herself. It’s not just about being pretty. They have to read, learn postures, and develop their personalities,” he added.
‘LUCKY OUTFITS’
Ram Silva provided Mateo’s outfits from the moment she applied for the MUP.
He was also part of Team Queen Rabiya, a group of her supporters since the Miss Iloilo 2020 pageant.
When Mateo went to apply in the national pageant, she wore Silva’s royal blue jumpsuit, which was also used by Catriona Gray in one of the rehearsals for the Miss Universe 2018 in Thailand.
He also provided her fuchsia Filipiniana dress during the final screenings, her lime-and-purple ensemble during the presentation of candidates, and the white barong tailored suit during the preliminary interviews.
Silva believed that bright colors allowed Mateo to stand out from the rest, and also said he was happy that she pulled off the outfits, that she “didn’t disappoint”.
He shared that from the moment he met Mateo through Agriam, he knew she would win, and his hunch was reinforced by her attitude.
“I immediately felt that there was something to this girl that I needed to support her. Daw may ‘gut feel’ ka na bala nga Queen ni sya pero kilanlan anay buligan. So never ako nag-hesitate to give my time and effort to Rabiya. More than the beauty, I guess mas na-appreciate ko siya sa iya attitude, because she’s forgiving and understanding. She understood me despite being rude and strict towards her,” Silva said.
HOMEWORK
Mateo also confided a lot in Jasper Vijar, a friend who she had been communicating with since March in the wee days of COVID-19 lockdowns.
Vijar was one of the hosts of Miss Iloilo 2020.
They had “private sessions”, which they both kept in secret because of Vijar’s connections in other places, as well as to lessen Mateo’s worries.
“Rabiya knows where she stood at the time. She knew she had to do a lot of work. When she won Miss Iloilo, she became the talk of the town and there were already detractors at the time. She always asked me what she needed to improve on and who were my top five,” Viijar said.
Vijar, also a pageant winner, did things with Mateo differently, since she also had her formal trainings with the Manila-based beauty camp Aces & Queens.
They would start with “chika” or random gossip, then move to warm-up activities, diagnostic questions, pageant questions, and deeper topics.
Instead of the usual communications and question-and-answer trainings, they did informal talks, discussing social issues and advocacy work.
The topics included gender inequality, politics, environmental and social problems, HIV and AIDS, teenage pregnancy, COVID-19, rights of healthcare workers, and other things.
He would then give her homework, which consisted of articles which she would have to read, and in their next sessions, she would have to answer his questions.
“As ambassadors, we have to speak the truth of the communities we serve. I wanted to impart to her that she wasn’t just answering a question, she’s meant to be a Miss Universe. We did not just focus on the typical pageant questions,” he said.
He also imparted to Mateo that pageants are not just events for glamour but also an avenue for advocacy and raising concerns.
“What people should realize is that pageants also evolve. Personally, as someone in advocacy work, I find pageants as a great platform to speak out about injustices and our causes that we fight for. She also recognized these things, that we need to have conversations and not just answering questions. I also hear her perspective as someone who teaches kids and lectures in review centers,” he said.
Vijar revealed that Mateo did worry about not being in top five picks by pageant sites or social media personalities.
She knew she had to work on her catwalk, but they just focused on the question-and-answer portion which she was confident about.
“I remember her telling me, ‘Doc, I’m not in anyone’s top five’. I felt her worry because she knew she wasn’t just there as herself, but as a representative of the city and its culture. So we set our goal, which was really to beat the frontrunners at [question-and-answer], which she felt that would be her only ace,” he said.
Despite her perceived advantage, he would always tell her to improve her answers and not feel complacent.
Vijar said he already knew she would make it to the top five, but realized that the “stars aligned” for her to win after seeing her dedication to improvement.
“I would always tell her that she was in my top five, but that we have to keep working hard. I would be stern with her, saying, ‘It’s a good answer, but pang-fourth runner-up lang,’ and she would keep at it. I would also tell her, ‘We have to keep working Rabs. We can’t settle,’ and that I think really pushed her in a good way,” he bared.
Up to the last minute of the pageant, Vijar provided Mateo with “friendly guidance”.
Vijar shared that even up to the last minute, she was eager to ace the question-and-answer segment, and had goosebumps when she was already “claiming” to win the title.
“I’ve been in contact with her since preliminaries. The taping of the finals night was on Oct. 23, and we talked at around 11p.m. on the 22nd. We practiced on our Top 16 speech because that impression lasts. I also critiqued her preliminary answers even though that was already done. She also asked for rounds of questions and answers. We finished at around 1 a.m. on the 23rd, and I had goosebumps when she told me that she would already be Miss Universe Philippines on our next call,” he shared.
Vijar expressed his happiness and inferred that the sessions they had did work because of its laid-back and casual nature.
“I just really cannot believe that it did happen. I’m still on a high and I’m happy that she did it. What I liked about our sessions really, was that it wasn’t templated. I didn’t get paid and we did it because [Mateo] and I were both passionate to bring home the crown to Iloilo City and make one Ilongga’s dream come true. I think our sessions were fruitful because she felt she was training not with a mentor, but with a friend,” he said.
But her achievements were hers because of her determination to learn, Vijar added.
“It’s really her. She really does her research. She is eager to learn. Everything I’ve told her, from positive to negative, she takes it in, everything. A queen is made because she wanted to be a queen, not because of anything else. It really came from her, that she wants it,” he said.
