Reigning Miss Universe Philippines Ahtisa Manalo has scored another accolade just weeks before flying to Thailand for the 74th Miss Universe pageant. She has been recognized as one of the ‘Women of Style and Substance’ for 2025.
She joined other accomplished ladies including broadcast journalist Karmina Constantino and Solicitor General Darlene Berberabe, but the entrepreneur from Quezon Province said she may add a few more names to the list.
‘It will be all the women in my family, with the way they raised me. The woman of style and substance that I am, they also deserve that,’ Manalo told Inquirer Entertainment on the sidelines of the ceremonies held at Bellevue Hotel Manila in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, on Monday, Oct. 20.
But for her, receiving such a recognition has validated the work she has been doing in the pageant industry. She has been joining beauty contests since she was 10 and has evolved into a formidable contender on the national and international stages.
Manalo said the award recognized her as ‘someone who not only shows up aesthetically, but also someone who has a passion or something they are fighting for, which I think I do have. And I appreciate PeopleAsia for seeing that in me.’
And on receiving the award just before she is set to compete, she had this to say: ‘It’s a great reminder that my hard work is paying off. That people recognize what I’m doing, that there is something greater than the things that I am able to conceive in my mind.’
Manalo will try to post the Philippines’ fifth Miss Universe victory in the international pageant’s 2025 coronation show at the IMPACT Challenger Hall in Nonthaburi, northwest of Bangkok, on Nov. 21. More than 130 delegates are expected to participate. /ra