Rabiya Mateo from Iloilo city was crowned Miss Universe Philippines 2020 at the finale held on 25th October 2020. While her glorious crowning moment saw fans rejoice with marvel because of her outstanding performance throughout the competition, the crown came heavy as she was immediately surrounded with controversy.

While she came on air to give an interview after her win, Rabiya finally put the whole controversy to rest as she said, “To be honest po, maybe because I wasn't a frontrunner, so people didn't expect me to win. And now that I have the crown...I'm sorry I'm being emotional. They are questioning my capability as a person, as a candidate. But I know that I did everything and anything that I could during that night. And binigay ko talaga. And yung mga nagsasabi na the question was given to me, that's why I answered that way, it wasn't given po sa akin. I did everything that I could because I want to make Iloilo City proud."

“Of course it was painful because there are things na you can settle by talking with each other. At the end of the day, this is a competition, and being the bigger person in the picture, I need to understand where they're coming from”, she added emotionally.

The whole controversy started after Sandra Lemonon posted a series of cryptic messages on Instagram Stories yesterday and pageant fans pointed out that these must be related to the competition.

Miss Universe Philippines national director Shamcey Supsup posted on Instagram Stories yesterday to say, "To bear defeat with dignity, to criticism with poise, to receive honors with humility—these are the marks of a true QUEEN” as fans wondered if she was referring to Sandra's posts.