God’s plans for Rabiya Mateo

 

“I may or may not win the crown. But one thing is for sure: I’m gonna make you proud.”

—Rabiya Mateo, Miss Universe Philippines 2020

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

RABIYA Occeña Mateo, 24, described internationally as “Filipino-Indian model and pageant titleholder”, was relatively unknown before she was crowned as the Miss Universe Philippines 2020.

Now, the Ilongga beauty from Balasan, Iloilo is on top of the world regardless of who will be crowned as the Miss Universe 2020 during the 69^th edition of the Miss Universe competition at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on May 16, 2021.

Even if she was not yet the Miss Universe crown holder, she’s already the toast of the pageant world; lucrative modeling and endorsement contracts may be waiting on the horizon. 

And if popularity should be the basis for selecting the next Miss Universe, Mateo was already a runaway winner based on the number of her followers in the social and mainstream media, and the abundant glowing adulation from both her fans and admirers.

Coming from a very humble beginning and a family that had longed for a father figure, Mateo, an underdog both in life and in pageant competitions, vaulted into stardom in the Miss Universe Philippines competition when the world was besieged by the pandemic and people paid little attention to how she amassed the spectacular victory in Baguio City.

 

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God indeed has chosen another underdog in this field to rise to the occasion and make a king-sized difference in a competitive world.

He has big plans for Mateo who will certainly never be the same again after the Miss Universe competition—win or lose.

This reminds us of what Robert Morris had emphasized that the great paradox of living the blessed life is when we give without thought to whether or not we will receive, then we receive.

Truly, nothing feels blessed about being broken. 

“In fact,” Charles Stanley once said, “certain circumstances in life hurt so intensely that we think we will never heal. But blessing can come in the wake of our being broken." 

In the video, uploaded by the Miss Universe Organization on May 13 (May 12 in the US), Mateo was asked about her pageant journey. She admitted that she was never really a favorite and was a dark horse going into the Miss Universe Philippines competition.

“Nobody noticed me. When I won, I received different comments. There were people who did not expect me to do well, who thought I cheated,” quipped Mateo, who will vie for the country’s fifth Miss Universe crown. “That’s why I needed to do well in Miss Universe, I needed to do well in this competition.”

She may or may not win, but Rabiya Mateo has already made many Filipinos proud of her with her beauty and intelligence combined with gracefulness and humility seldom found in any beauty crown holder.

Good luck, Rabiya. 

May the full force of our prayers and moral support give you the coveted Miss Universe 2020 crown.

 

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An email dated May 13, 2021 sent by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo which he also shared to other New Yorkers:

Dear Alex, Late last night, the New York State Clinical Advisory Task Force approved the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 12 - 15-year-olds. This approval allowed us to begin administering the vaccine to this newly eligible age group today. Reminder: All New York State vaccination sites are open for walk-in appointments to all eligible individuals. You can also make an appointment online through the Am I Eligible tool or by calling 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829). Let's get vaccinated, New York.

Here's what else you need to know tonight:

1. COVID hospitalizations dropped to 1,852. Of the 204,531 tests reported yesterday, 2,216, or 1.08 percent, were positive. The 7-day average percent positivity was 1.25 percent. There were 433 patients in ICU yesterday, down 30 from the previous day. Of them, 258 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 22 New Yorkers to the virus. 

2. As of 11am this morning, 60.9 percent of adult New Yorkers have completed at least one vaccine dose. Over the past 24 hours, 111,885 total doses have been administered. To date, New York administered 17,166,220 total doses with 50.4 percent of adult New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See additional data on the State's Vaccine Tracker.

3. The moratorium on disconnecting utilities is extended until the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted or December 31, 2021. This week, I signed legislation extending a moratorium that prevents utility companies from disconnecting utilities to residential households and small businesses that are struggling with their bills due to pandemic-related hardship. The moratorium is extended for a period of 180 days after the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted or 180 days after December 31, 2021, whichever is earlier. 

4. I signed legislation protecting New Yorkers' COVID stimulus payments from debt collectors. All relief payments to New Yorkers under these federal acts, including stimulus payments, tax refunds, rebates, and tax credits to support individuals and children qualified for or received prior to the effective date, will be protected.

Tonight's "Deep Breath Moment": A 10-year-old boy earned the title of National Chess Master, becoming the 28th youngest person to do so. Tanitoluwa "Tani" Adewumi, a refugee from Nigeria, won the New York state chess championship in 2019 and has continued to hone his skills to win the national title on May 1. Next up in Tani's chess ambitions is to become the world's youngest grandmaster. Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

 

 

Mateo is a blessing for the Ilonggos

“I believe that whatever comes at a particular time is a blessing from God.”

—A. R. Rahman

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

AT the time when the Filipinos were being besieged by COVID-19 pandemic and the economy was in a tailspin, God gave Iloilo City Miss Universe Philippine 2020 Rabiya Occeña Sundall Mateo.

A nebula of exultation and exuberance suddenly blasted in the horizon for the Ilonggos peppered since March 2020 by the mysterious virus that has infected 53,875,361 people around the world and killed 1,310,688 (as of November 14) in 191 countries, including the Philippines.

MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES 2020 RABIYA MATEO

Fellow Ilonggos forgot their worries for a while to celebrate Mateo’s fascinating ascension to the constellation of glory and stardom.

Mateo is a perfect gift and blessing to all Ilonggos in this period of distress and desolation, when some families lost livelihood and employment; when the pandemic snatched away their loved ones and stymied their enthusiasm to hit the road of recovery at least in 2021 as the world wallows in uncertainty for the vaccine.

As manifested by their wild reaction when they welcomed the Queen during her first homecoming Friday since being crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2020 in Baguio City on October 25, the Ilonggos, led by Iloilo City Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas, look up to the lovely Mateo, 23, a perfect combination of beauty, grace, intelligence and humility, as a symbol of pride and inspiration.

For one fleeting moment during Mateo’s arrival, the Ilonggos were incredibly united and triumphant like champions in the Trojan War.

When she hopefully brings home the Miss Universe crown next year (let’s cross our fingers), all the pain, sadness and tribulation experienced by the Ilonggos, as well as all the Filipinos, these past months brought by the pandemic and economic doldrums will quickly evaporate. 

 

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IN my last “live” radio interview in the Philippines about the Trump versus Biden matchup on Saturday evening (U.S. time), I explained that as the Americans moved on with their lives after the chaotic U.S. Presidential Election 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 10,690,665 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 181,801 cases from its previous count.

The number of deaths had risen by 1,364 to 243,580.

The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19 as of 4 p.m. on Nov. 13, compared with its previous report released a day earlier. The number could increase as of this writing. 

After the election fever, I have been monitoring the changing data and statistics as the Americans battle and try to resist the spike of the deadly virus.

This developed as the head of Democratic U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory board announced on November 13 there was no plan to shut the United States down and that the new administration's approach will be targeted at specific areas.

U.S. News quoted Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former U.S. surgeon general tapped to lead the board, as saying that “doctors have learned a lot about how the virus spreads and what steps to reduce risk are effective.”

 

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“We're not in a place where we're saying shut the whole country down. We got to be more targeted," Murthy said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."

Another member of Biden's COVID team, Dr. Michael Osterholm, suggested in a Yahoo Finance interview on recently that the country could cover individual companies' and local governments' losses for a four-to six-week lockdown to drive numbers down.

Osterholm clarified in an interview with ABC on November 12 that he did not discuss a lockdown with anyone on the advisory board and he did not think there was a national consensus for it saying "nobody's going to support it.”

Neither Murthy nor Dr. Celine Gounder, another Biden adviser, who appeared on CNN on Friday, embraced the idea of a national lockdown.

"Right now the way we should be thinking about this is more like a series of restrictions that we dial up or down depending on how bad spread is taking place in a specific region," Murthy said.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, was a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

 

 

   

  

 

 

 

 

Margie Moran can’t even congratulate Rabiya Mateo

“No one knows what to say in the loser's locker room.”— Muhammad Ali

 By Alex P. Vidal

WHEN the big names in the world of beauty pageant speak, fans normally lend credence to their messages. 

Thus it is important they don’t pander in ambiguity and should be straightforward and truthful when they dabble in a general conversation. 

But no one should begrudge Miss Universe 1973 Margie Moran when she recently shared on Instagram a photo of Ysabella Roxas Ysmael Martinez, her niece, who lost in the finals to Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo of Iloilo City at the Baguio Country Club on October 25.

MISS RABIYA MATEO

Moran, 67, president of Ballet Philippines (BP) and chair of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), thinks her niece, the first runner-up in this year’s national Miss Universe Philippine pageant, is the deserving title winner.

“The first runner up is my Champion,” Moran wrote in the photo’s caption.

Stately accolades normally are bestowed on the winner instead of finding their way to the runner-up’s court; thus the Instagram message speaks volumes of Auntie Margie’s chagrin and exasperation for her niece’s defeat.

 

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The Philippine press reported that Moran has been vocal of her support for the aspiring pageant queen from Parañaque.

Moran wrote: “You were a stand out but the purpose designed for you is greater than you can imagine.”

She added: “A star does not compete with other stars around it. It just shines.”

Any aunt or relative would have done the same in their social media accounts and otherwise.

Patronize your own product. Charity begins at home. Blood is thicker than water.

Moran, who must be very excited, was entitled to her own opinion; her sentiments were an exercise of her freedom of speech and expression. 

Moran must also be probably frustrated and, to some extent, bitter that an Ilongga beauty from Balasan, Iloilo dashed to pieces the dreams of her niece to emulate her feat when she became the second Filipina to win the global beauty competition in 1973 after Gloria Diaz in 1969.  

 

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So disheartened was Auntie Margie that she forgot one fundamental courtesy expected of a famous name in the world of beauty pageant like her: congratulate the winner.

It’s a simple moral obligation for “those who have been there before.” 

Auntie Margie’s high-mindedness and magnanimity would have been the perfect vaccines to eviscerate the pandemic of envy, jealousy, and unsportsmanlike behavior that has gobbled up the sore losers’ GMRC.      

With her stature, Auntie Margie can easily put off the flame of intrigues and chicanery tossed and marshaled by the cry babies and sore losers in the social media if she congratulated Rabiya Mateo right away with no prejudice to Auntie Margie’s personal felicitations for a vanquished niece. 

Her failure to congratulate Rabiya Mateo on Instagram and other platforms and at least acknowledge the 23-year-old national beauty titlist even after paying homage to her niece, betrayed Moran’s personal bias, sugar-coated acridity, and unchivalrous-like attitude.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)