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10 Things About Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo

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<p>Hail to the new queen: <strong>Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo</strong>! The beauty queen from the Quezon Province bested 65 candidates and was crowned during The Coronation Night held on May 2 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. </p><p>Ahtisa, who was born in Candelaria, Quezon, will represent the Philippines in Miss Universe 2025, the prestigious pageant&#x27;s 74th edition, which will be held in November in Thailand. </p><p>She was chosen from a roster of Top 6 beauty queens, which also included Muntinlupa&#x27;s <strong>Teresita Ssen Marquez</strong> (1st Runner-Up), Siniloan&#x27;s <strong>Yllana Marie Aduana</strong> (2nd Runner-Up), Cebu City&#x27;s <strong>Gabriella Mai Carballo</strong>, Sultan Kudarat&#x27;s <strong>Chelsea Fernandez</strong>, and Taguig&#x27;s <strong>Maria Katrina Llegado</strong>. She also won five sponsor awards. </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746221964167495459167_18137611852397868_8692254452618634782_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:center"><br/></div><p style="text-align:left">During the Q&amp;A segment, where Ahtisa was the last to answer, the question she was asked was: &quot;They say that a good leader leads by example. Tell us one event in your life when you led by example and the impact it made.&quot; </p><p style="text-align:left">To which Ahtisa replied, &quot;I fell a while ago onstage. And the thing with me is whenever I fall in life, I always make sure I come back stronger. Last year, I was here on this stage, and for the second time this year, I&#x27;m here putting everything on this stage to be Miss Universe Philippines because this is mine and my grandmother&#x27;s shared dream, and she passed away early this year. And this is my ode to her.&quot;</p><p style="text-align:left">Showing grace under pressure, even as she tripped onstage during the Evening Gown segment, Ahtisa stood up gracefully and confidently, symbolizing how she made a comeback in pageantry stronger, more beautiful, and more confident than ever. </p><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746222851806495228796_18137611870397868_5047144368900481946_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><p>During the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Preliminary Interview, Ahtisa summed up her pageant journey to share why she should be the next Miss Universe Philippines, saying, &quot;You know, I started my pageant journey at 10 years old to put myself through school, to help my family, and I feel like if I become Miss Universe, it will be a great culmination of my 17-year pageant journey and I feel like it would give a lot of people... it would be a good representation of going for your dreams.&quot;<em></em></p><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><div><strong>Get to know Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo better with these 10 things about her:</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>She&#x27;s a seasoned beauty queen.</strong></div><p>As she mentioned in her answer during the Q&amp;A segment, Ahtisa also joined Miss Universe Philippines 2024, where she finished 2nd Runner-Up and was appointed Miss Cosmo Philippines 2024. At Miss Cosmo&#x27;s inaugural edition held in Vietnam in October 2024, Ahtisa placed in the Top 10. </p><p>She also won the Binibining Pilipinas International title in 2018 and represented the Philippines at the Miss International 2018 in Tokyo, Japan, where she finished 1st Runner-Up. Now, from one Manalo to another Manalo—<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/miss-universe-ph-2024-chelsea-manalo-metro-cover/38659" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo</a> passed on the crown to Ahtisa Manalo, and with it comes the responsibility and purpose of representing the Philippines on the Miss Universe stage. </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-2" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C40VrJxSnTg/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=864&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A2%2C%22os%22%3A4886910.300000012%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-2" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>Trivia: She joined her first pageant in Grade 4—&quot;<em>dahil ang</em> grand prize was free tuition,&quot; Ahtisa recalled. &quot;Pageantry became my life&#x27;s vessel, fueled by the love and support of those around me. I am the Ahtisa you see today because someone enabled my life&#x27;s aspirations. Now, I want to be that enabler for all other Ahtisas to believe. To believe that you are not limited by your life&#x27;s circumstances. And to believe that your greatest enabler is yourself.&quot; </p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746223579724491895976_18503104081044591_8789514363310653358_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Photo by Dookie Ducay</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>She&#x27;s an accountant.</strong></div><p>&quot;I did not grow up with privilege,&quot; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQNipyQsUk4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ma. Ahtisa Manalo shared</a>. In fact, she said it was her grandmother and grandfather who sent her to school. &quot;<em>Kaya bata pa lang,</em> I searched for ways to help put myself through school.&quot; Eventually, she graduated with a degree in accountancy from Enverga University in Quezon. Beauty, brains, bravery!<strong></strong></p><div><br/></div><div><strong>She&#x27;s a gamer.</strong></div><p><strong></strong>During her introduction video for Miss Universe Philippines 2025, she described herself as &quot;an accountant by day and a gamer at night.&quot; She shared, &quot;There&#x27;s this one time where I spent three days finishing the game Hogwarts Legacy to 99% completion. <em>Halos walang tulog</em>, <em>walang kain</em>, <em>walang ligo</em>. <em>Eew</em>!&quot; </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:left"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746224972196491893103_18502702909044591_3166941177733714594_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Photo by Dookie Ducay</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align:left"><br/></div><div><strong>She was a lead majorette in high school.</strong></div><p><strong></strong>And because that was a fond memory for Ahtisa, she included that in her Tourism Video for Miss Universe Philippines 2024, and she said she had to learn the choreo for it &quot;in a short amount of time after not having touched a baton for more than 10 years.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5aXxmhSKzr/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=864&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A3834404.300000012%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><strong>Her all-time favorite animated film is <em>Mulan</em>.</strong></div><p><strong></strong>And her favorite quote from the movie is: &quot;The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.&quot; In a way, the quote reflects her life&#x27;s journey of rising above challenges. <em>Mulan </em>is a movie about a woman who inspires with her bravery, disguising herself as a man to lead an army during a war. <em></em><strong></strong><em></em></p><div><br/></div><div><strong>She has not met her biological father yet.</strong></div><div><strong></strong></div><p><strong></strong>During her preliminary interview for Miss Universe Philippines 2025, she was asked about not meeting her biological father yet and how that has affected her. &quot;We speak every... occasionally, but we don&#x27;t have a relationship. He&#x27;s Finnish. And I think it affected me growing up, not knowing <strong></strong>my self-worth, or it always has affected my self-worth. I felt like I wasn&#x27;t enough, or I was the reason that he left, or he didn&#x27;t come back. And you know, up until now, there are still moments where I feel like it affects me. But now that I&#x27;m an adult and I&#x27;ve worked on how I feel, it&#x27;s much better now, I&#x27;ve sorted it out.&quot;<strong></strong></p><div><strong></strong><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746230267616481235835_18489133540044591_2517406959221943588_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Photo by Seven Barretto</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>She was very close to her grandmother.</strong></div><p>Like in the Q&amp;A this year, where Ahtisa mentioned giving an ode to her late grandmother through her participation at the pageant, she also honored her at the Q&amp;A last year. The question she was asked during the Miss Universe Philippines 2024 was: &quot;Women learn from each other. What is the biggest lesson that you&#x27;ve learned from another woman, and how did it improve your life?&quot; Ahtisa answered, &quot;My grandmother put me through school, and the biggest lesson I have learned from her is to always be kind. She is someone who has a big heart and took care of me since I was a kid. And I do think my grandmother is someone that I can look up to. She is someone that is an embodiment of what a great woman is.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="925" height="525" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RQNipyQsUk4?si=_XYDqFHldFwUd-by" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>She&#x27;s an entrepreneur. </strong></div><p><strong></strong>Ahtisa said she&#x27;s always had that entrepreneurial spirit since she was a kid, when she would sell <em>pogs</em>, <em>teks</em>, and <em>jolens</em> to her playmates. &quot;And then I challenge them to a game with their newly bought toys. Oh, and the best part, I usually win, therefore I take back what they recently paid for,&quot; she shared. She has cafe businesses and played a role in establishing some food businesses, too. </p><p>Because of her passion for entrepreneurship, she has been supporting the Alon Akademie, a non-profit organization and &quot;a platform that supports young people in developing real entrepreneurial projects and successfully implementing them in reality.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746226728980479183353_18488053954044591_308140693169036842_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Photo from @ahtisa</span></span></span> <strong></strong><br/></div><div><strong>For Ahtisa, being a beauty queen means...<br/></strong></div><p>&quot;...that you are an instrument of change, in a sense that you get to influence people on their decisions in life and their outlook in life,&quot; she said in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUVAJK47YUA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metro.Style interview in 2018</a>, adding that beauty is all about confidence. In another interview with Metro in 2019, Ahtisa said, &quot;We should be confident and proud. And when someone compliments you, &#x27;You&#x27;re beautiful,&#x27; the correct reply is always, &#x27;I know, right?&#x27;&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>An inspiring message she wants to share is that...</strong></div><p>&quot;...when you have a dream, you have to work for it. You don&#x27;t let anyone else tell you what you can be, what you can do, and what you cannot do,&quot; she told Metro.Style. Her journey to the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 crown proves that dreams can become a reality when you make it your mission to turn your vision into fruition. </p><div><br/></div><div style="text-align:center"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:700px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746230352334491898768_18503206609044591_4962870368375041284_n.jpg" style="width:700px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner">Photo by Dookie Ducay</span></span></span></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>Related: </strong><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/people/digital-covers/miss-universe-ph-2024-chelsea-manalo-metro-cover/38659" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Up Close and Personal With Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo</strong></a></div>

<p>Hail to the new queen: Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo! Get to know the newly crowned queen better here. </p>

Hail to the new queen: Miss Universe Philippines 2025 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo! Get to know the newly crowned queen better here.