“It’s my first flight (domestic or international) since March of 2020. The sudden decision to leave early was because of restrictions in the country. We wanted to leave on April 20, to isolate for 14 days (self imposed because there are no quarantine rules in Florida I think) prior to checking in at the Miss Universe Hotel venue.
We planned so many things the past three weeks: more photoshoots, interviews, fittings, and a grand send off presscon for Rabiya. These were all cancelled because of the covid situation. We are a very responsible organization and we care for the safety of everyone, specially the Queen. With all that is happening, it makes me wonder why some people are blaming us for not doing what is the “tradition”. Yet, we were able to stage a pageant last year which produced this beautiful lady from Iloilo.
By the end of March, the organization was carefully planning everything. We had no choice but to the get the earliest day possible to leave the country. Since flights are either being cancelled or fullybooked. So April 9 it is. We don’t even have an airline sponsor (which we understand due to the business losses). But thank God there are angels around who have been helping us. (Whom we will thank all soon).
Before leaving we prayed together with Albert Andrada. A reminder is that we are not just doing this for ourselves, and for our country. We are all here to glorify His name, the Lord our God.
PS. It’s Rabiya’s first out the country trip and she requested that we all go together.”
normannorman.com 
nakapabait naman nitong si rabiya
marespeto pa
go girl
do your best
slay
bring home the MU crown
I hope Rabiya and the MUP Team have been vaccinated before they left the Philippines. Florida is led by a Trumpist governor who defies COVID 19 protocols in the name of personal freedom. MEI experience is too scary for pageantry to ignore.
@scorg,with limited supply of anti-covid vaccine here in the Philippines, IATF’s recommendation is to prioritize health care workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidities. Vaccinating Rabiya and MUP team will deviate from the prioritization framework set by IATF, and therefore unethical. Unless MUO, being an organization based in US where vaccines are now available for general populace, distributes vaccines to the candidates and their respective teams, mandatory 14-day quarantine of MU candidates and their respective teams( like what MGI did) would be the most practical step to prevent covid transmission.
@serge, if that is the case, they shoud be very careful. Transmission of this virus is very quick. In my case, it takes a 14-hour plane ride to turn my Covid test from a Negative to Positive, despite my face mask and face shield, and the 2-seat-apart social distancing inside the plane. Covid cases in Florida has not gone down, and its governor has declared open business establishments and encouraged defiance of science-based COVID 19 protocols– all in the name of “personal freedom”. Lately, he banned Vaccine Passports requirement by businesses to ensure the safety of every customer and staff. This MU show can be a super-spreader of the virus if the organizers don’t watch out.
Correction: to general populace
@scorg. Either you got the virus inside the plane or while you were still in the Philippines. The optimal time to test for covid is on the 6th day from the exposure. Your negative covid test result could be either true negative or false negative. If MU will not require the candidates to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine, at the very least, candidates should be tested daily with strict observance of proper health protocol.
Correction: tested daily for covid
Even with the latest PCR test for Covid-19, still it is not 100% accurate. It’s still liable for giving out false positive. The test involves repeated cycles in which genetic materials are multiplied number of times, thereby increasing the probability of giving out positive result even in the absence of Covid-19 genetic material in the original sample.
As such, your case clearly illustrates the inherent flaw of random testing for Covid-19 in the absence of prodromal symptoms of Covid-19 infection. And to use such uncorrelated positive results to govern the lives of the general population will indubitably result in unmitigated public policy disaster. Case in point New York, where morbidity and mortality rates are higher than those in Florida: closed businesses, increased crimes, high unemployment rate.
Fact is, the approach of Florida in dealing with Covid-19 is no different than those of Taiwan, Sweden, which is in line with the study conducted by John Hopkins on the SARS-corona virus of 2002. In a nutshell, it advocated herd immunity, targeted quarantine and focused management among vulnerable and high risk groups: elderly, people with preexisting condition that compromised their immune system.
It is the continued politicization of the Covid-19 responses that hindered governments from implementing sensible approach that balances the need of Covid-19 containment while keeping the general population socioeconomically viable.
What is so ironic is the fact that while Florida is being demonized for their Covid-19 approach, the Biden administration is allowing untested, unvaccinated illegal immigrants enter the southern border, housed in over-crowded detention facilities. And even those who tested positive were released in major US cities with no strict tracing.
When the Antifa and BLM were protesting, rioting before the US presidential election, CNN and the rest of mainstream media refused to label such gatherings as super spreader though it was more than obvious that no one was observing those touted Covid-19 protocol.
I agree XYZ that RT-PCR test result should be interpreted with caution. Although it is the gold standard to test for the presence and absence of covid disease(in short highly sensitive and highly specific), still it is not 100 percent accurate. RT-PCR is still the most accurate among the presently available covid tests, hence we have to take RT-PCR result as it is.
My basic point of contention Serge is the fact the politicians have been using positive covid-19 results, regardless if those are clinically corroborated or not, to justify implementation of overtly restrictive Covid-19 protocols. Its was only after parents, mental health and medical professional voiced grave concerns of decreased school performance, increased rate of depression, suicide, substance abuse among teen agers and young adults that our state finally relented and started lifting up those draconian restrictions.
Is Nawat and Jonas related by any means?
Somehow they kinda look alike in some angles.
Hahaha. Infested na ng #AhasAndKweens ang blog na eto. Bye bye objectivity. Ewwwwwwwwnessss.
bye felicia!!! asikasuhin mo na lang yung pabeaucon ng Cubao dahil nawawala na ang relevance nila sa mundo ng pa beaucon… ay mali pala,simulan niyo na ang pagpapafund raising para may pang bayad kayo ng franchise fee hahaha
dun ka sa titisofpageantry na lang tumambay veks..hihihihi
see you there too!!!
@ 4M Tit_sofPageantry talaga, Mareh? 🙂
si si mare flor hihihihi
We supported Samantha & KF when she was carrying the country’s flag in competition abroad at MGI.
We will now do the same for Rabiya.
Yes, we know she’s not perfect (just as Samantha is not perfect).
But we will wish Rabiya the best pa rin, just as we wished the best for Samantha when she was competing at MGI. Because lumalaban na siya not for camp, but for the country.
Or, wait, do you actually want us to root for Rabiya (and her camp) to fail the same way you do? Is that what you mean by objectivity?
Beks, has no-one informed you that when you root against the delegate carrying our country’s name on her sash that yan ang behavior ng real ahas?
Never mind na mga baklesh kung wala yung mga nakagisnan na tradition ng mga MUP like the send off or the TWBA or the Fast Talk eklavu!
Ang mahalaga ngayon nakatapak na si Rabiya sa US of A! I’m sure hindi siya pababayaan ng mga Pinoy dun! Hindi siya magugutom sa dami ng mga puede mag-sponsor sa kanyang mga Pinoy!
Ang worry ko lang sa kanya is kung bitbit na ba niya yung Evening Gown niya! I hope hindi na mangyari yung incident nung 2015. Nevertheless, kung hindi pa, may time pa siya para mamasyal kina Oliver Tolentino and Veejay Floresca!
Yung mga shupit natin, ayaw magpatalbog sa paramihan ng mga wardrobe na bibitbitin para sa 10-day activity! Kalurky! Yung isa naman, naglabas lang ng swimsuit photo si Rabiya, aba meron na rin siya agad-agad!
At least ngayon, makakampante na si Rabiya! Puede na niya ituloy dun yung finishing touches niya for the competition!
Best wishes on your MU journey.
May you reach the finals even without the fan votes so that your haters would drown in their own pool of toxicity.
Lady luck 🍀 smile upon you.
Ang daming nagsasabi sa FB pages na Sam Ber would’ve been a better MUP than Rabiya. Bulag ba sila? Sam Ber delivered a good performance sa MGI, pero let’s be real, she can’t handle the kudaan sa Miss Universe. The reason bakit never nanalo si Sam Ber sa BBP is because of her memorized answers and multiple grammatical errors, dagdag mo pa yung make-up niya nung 2019 na mukhang namaga dahil sinampal ng ilang beses. I’m sorry, pero ang annoying talaga ng grammatical errors niya kahit sa casual interviews. Kahit nga siguro sa MUP, di papalag yan lalo na pag tinabi mo kina Bella, Pauline, Billie, at Michele. Even Alaiza na sinasabi niyo di makuda (which I disagree), mas magaling pa magsalita kay Sam Ber.
Smart move since yung Presidente natutulog pa at right and left ang namamatay for sure mga next coming weeks walang outbound travel coming from the Phil at walang country na tatangap sa mga pilipino group na hawa na sa ka pa bayan ng gobyernong nagpapalakad eh inutil. Hurt mga DDs?
Pano ma hurt mga DDS eh incumbent kami at di na kayo mananalo ever take note.. kaya hanggang dakdak na lang kayo.. hahahhahaha
NAKUH SPOTTED ANG ISANG BAKLANG DDS😂 CAlling Norman please links in ang mga DDs dito.
@Vaklang IVAN
Hanggang dito ka na lang mag nga-nga-ngakngak. Kasi kayong mga yellowish teeth di na ever mananalo.. Tapos na ang mga kagagahan niyo since 1986. LOLs Magdasal na lang kayo na mabalik ang smartmatic niyo. pweh!
My Current TOP 3: Curacao, Peru & the Philippines
Reaching TOP 5: Chile & Thailand
Reaching TOP 10: Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, & Romania
Rounding the TOP 20: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Panama, Poland, USA, & Vietnam
@ paul I would change Indonesia and Vietnam with Nepal and Cambodia.
Colombia with South Africa.
And Puerto Rico with El Salvador.
🙂
In a way, it might have been a blessing in disguise that they were able to book an earlier flight to leave for the US. with the cases still going up the vaccination efforts, you just never though if states will start issuing another partial lockdown.
My first ever international flight was in 2004 when I finally left the country to be with my mum. I was 18 and I had to go through the stress, anxiety and a bit of excitement. The thing I was worried about the most was the connecting flight as I was not fully versed on what to do.
When I arrived at JFK, they took me to the immigration room for a bit which also added to the stress of it. And finally, the walk out of the airport waiting and looking for my parents. Whewww….I am not sure how I did it but I did!
Ramdam ko na agad ang tagumpay mo Rabiya Mateo!!! Laban lang girl, para sa iyong pangarap at para sa Pilipinas!!! Again, mabuhay ang gandang Filipina!!!👑👑👑
Good thing they left earlier than planned. Flights might be cancelled. This reminds me of the late Chat Silayan who missed her flight to South Korea twice. Yet, she ended up winning 3rd runner up.
Nakakapagod yang trip na yan, lalo na first time.. Get enough rest Rabiya.
Rabiya’s chance to make it to the semis is through votes.
Gagastustan ka ng mga pinoy sa boto Rabiya kaya galingan mo pg nakapasok ka na.
Boba!!!!!
C Lavinia yung spokeperson nang mga negatrons – mga bitter na wla na sa BBP and MU franchise.
Negatrons agad? Bekle, wala ba bokabularyo niyo ang valid and justified criticisms? Palibahas mga DDS ang thinking.
awts.. anshaket shaket na wala nasa team Cubao ang franchise kaya ngayon mga nagiinaso… arf arf arf… pagipunan nyo na lang ulit yung pambayad ng franchise fee ah… pero sa ngayon magtiis na lang muna kayo sa tira tira ni Jonas hahahaha…
anyare na pala sa pa-pageant nyo sa Cubao? tuloy na ba or postponed ulit? baka abutin na ng 30s ang mga dalaginding nyo dun eh waley pa din pabeaucon na nagaganap….
Sya ba yun talaga? Yung matabang,pangit ang ngipen ? I don’t know what her qualifications are but she packages herself as a fashion and beauty guru. I find her feelingera and condescending in her interviews. She projects this image na kala mo may mga alam na inside stories and she just doesn’t want to share to protect everyone. Feelingera! She ingratiates herself to the queens and their handlers and uses whatever little information she got, and milk it dry in her vlog. May mga dialogue syang “matagal ko ng alam so and so…pero I didn’t want to share..” But if you want to get first dibs, please support me via GCASH, paypal, ek ek. Echoserang Palaka. Lol.
World Peace.
@Thomas hahaha she does rub me off the same way especially when she started monetizing alleged info.
I actually used to support her because she does have insightful inputs but recently, I find that she has been less bias due to her strained relationship with JG. So….
I meant more biased*… still waking up here. lol
Exactly Thomas and she used to be a commenter here at Norman’s blog in the name of Leila.
She actually is our batchmate here lol
Andito pa rin xa sa comment section. In fact nasa taas comment nya. Clue: concerned pa rin xa sa gown kung tapos na ba o hindi. hahaha. dami nyang anxiety. wlang trust sa organization. kaloka.
Kaya galit na galit xa sa mga foreigners na beauty pageant vloggers. Pati si sierra may patutsada xa. Sabe nya kase sa mga youtube beauty con faneys – “ako na lang payamanin nyo”
Weh, I watch all the blogs of Tita Lavinia, and she is very supportive and provide very objective criticism baka ikaw kulang sa discernment MY OH My! and critical thinking????
at sino sya para mag sabi aber? puro kuro kuro, haka haka, at paniniwala lang naman ang laman ng utak nya… may natrain ba sya at naipanalo para mag-ala “expert”? katawan nga nya di nya mayos ayos… may ambag ba sya? eh puro laway lang nman sya ah katulad ng mga so called “online experts kuno”dito…. maygad! kung may problema sya at kayo sa grupo na may hawak ng franchise, edi pagipunan nyo ang franchise at saka kayo mag feeling expert…
ngayon, kung wala kayong pera edi manahimik kayo…. private organization yan kaya wag kayong pabida bida…
‘You never forget your first time’. Quote attributed to whom, guys? 🙂
Mine was also from NAIA 1. Also, like Rabiya, I was with an elder, who was accorded VIP status and got a seat in Business Class. And I? Economy, of course…
I recall nothing from that maiden flight. I had no expectations precisely because I knew not what was the proper thing to expect in a situation like that. It didn’t help that MANY similar flights as life went on made the experience predictable. So yeah. I bucked the trend. Lolz.
Siguro may lay-over ‘to somewhere? Korea? Japan? Rabiya, TAKE NOTE HOW DIFFERENTLY AIRPORTS LOOK LIKE. In hindsight, even this will give clues to the respective cultures that erected them.
A piece of trivia and history … did you know that long ago, 20 years or more , the MU pageants were held in May , and even before that , it was traditionally held in July
Miss Venezuela Barbara Palacios won MU1986 in July of 1986 and then, crowned her successor Miss Chile Cecilia Bolocco in May 1987… so Barbara Palacios had one of the shortest reigns in MU history ( together with Zuleyka Rivera who also had a short reign )
If Miss Universe 2021 is going to be held in Dec 2021 or Jan 2022 , the 69th MU winner in May 2021 next month will most likely have the shortest reign in all of MU history …
@ jaretwrightlover WA-AAH-AAHHH…!!! I missed the 1994 edition. ‘Di ako nag-enroll ng Summer (May) kasi I had to accompany my grandfather on a two-week visit to his hometown (Tubigon). Malas ko, WALA’NG TV anywhere… Not that Bohol was lacking, but I simply had the misfortune of not coming across one the entire time I was there. Siyempre, alangan naman’g iwanan ko lolo ko. Piyesta pa! Kainan grande. Du’n ko nakita ‘yun’g menudo na may pasas… Amelinckx probably wasn’t born yet.
But I caught both Palacios’ and Boloccos’ editions. Kaya love ko si Geraldine Asis. 🙂
… and additional trivia , only Stefania Fernandez Miss Venezuela , in recent memory , completed exactly one year of reign to the day ; Stefania won on Aug 23, 2009 and then crowned her successor Ximena Navarette of Mexico on Aug 23, 2010
true. even my parents used to cook menudo with pasas. sarap
Defensive si bekle kasi talo sila ng Team 20 days. #AhasAndKweens
ok lang yan nilalang na pakawala ng Cubao… mashoket ba na wala na sa inyo ang franchise?!?!?!kowowo … sige ipunin mo lang yang kapaitan mo sa buhay…
Hit and miss din ang wardrobe ni Sam. Wag ka ano.
.
Hit or miss*
Talo?
So Samantha’s first place finish at MGI 2020 somehow makes up for all of Team KF’s failures at Miss Universe, including most recently breaking the top 10 streak of the country in 2019?
And didn’t KF also break the top 5 Universe streak of A&Q from 2010 to 2013 when MJ failed to advance to the top 5 in 2014?
And, by all means, enlighten me: has KF ever won Miss World? Or Miss Universe for that matter?
A&Q also has a first runner-up placement at MGI with Nicold Cordoves–and they achieved that before Samantha B. did.
You really should take a seat & zip it.
Your yabang is not justified.
The report cards are clear–KF can’t even produce a Miss Universe runner-up, let alone a winner.
And that, I guess, explains the reprehensible crab-like behavior from the camp.
Madam, our concern is what #AhasAndKweens have become. Lumaki ang ulo at gumaspang ang ugali lalo na si Evil J. Free pass sa current kapangitan ng ugali because of past achievements? Wag utak bobita.
@THROWBAKLA- beks bakit ang bitter mo kay Mama J? May personal na atraso ba siya sayo kaya ganyan ka magsalita sa kanya? Malaki na ang naiambag ni Mama J sa Philippine pageantry. Hindi din naman niya kiniclaim na perpekto siya. Bakit hirap ka na iappreciate yung MGA naiambag niya para sa Pilipinas?
#just saying
Lumaki ang ulo ni Jonas?
Please, tingnan mo ang comment mo –> “Defensive si bekle kasi talo sila ng Team 20 days.”
Now, tell me, who has the laki ulo?
So, Team 20 Days is boasting their MGI send-off beats MUP? Honestly, who cares about the send-off?
Paano naging competition ang send-off?
Eto lang ba ang pwede ma-i-bato ng KF sa MUP / A&Q?
Sige, mas maganda ang send-off niyo, we’ll give that to you.
Pero mas maganda naman ang placements ng A&Q where it matters–the competition proper in Miss Universe.
Di niyo ba inicip, different times, different circumstances?
KF had the opportunity to shoot pre-departure videos to make paandar & all that because wala pa covid surge when Samantha was preparing. Whereas ngayon the transmission of covid in NCR Plus is out of control, risking more strict lockdowns & cancelled flights. And that is why MUP decided to leave at the earliest possible chance.
As for Jonas, evil siya because he dared to be more than a pageant coach? Because he had the ambition and initiative to go for the MUP franchise?
Isn’t this like the ambition & initiative of Samantha to write Nawat & ask to represent the country when someone else was training in the hopes of being granted an exemption to the age limit due to the pandemic? Ahas din ba yung alaga niyo?
See how it goes when you & people like Lavinia (Harry Roque with long hair) start from the premise that there’s something underhanded & suspicious & tsismis-worthy sa lahat ng galaw ng kabilang camp?
It can get thrown back at you.
P.S. For the record, I don’t believe Samantha is Ahas. But then I give KF the benefit of the doubt they never give Jonas and A&Q.
@SQ slow clap…. hahahaha waley paki ang mga gagang yan… ever since naman kontra bida ang tingin nila sa A&Q at mega bida ang KF eh… lahat ng alaga na MUP na galing A&Q nilait ng kampo nila except kay Shamcey… nung tumanggap ang A&Q ng mga non Filipino candidates andaming achuchu pero yung mas naunang magtrain ng ibang lahi eh saludo sila… hahaha
Naayos ba nila communication skills ni SamBer? 3 years na sa BBP, pero yung grammar niya sobrang lala pa rin. Not to mention napaikot-ikot siya magsalita most of the time.
Ang bait ng message ng schoolmate ni Flor Tula sa Filipino pageant fans.
If there’s one thing that the Aces and Queens can guarantee is a beautiful face of their candidate on the MU stage.
So even though Rabiya’s recent pics have not been impressive , I still trust that Rabiya can pull off
Something amazing on the nights that matter .
it must be so exciting for Rabiya , …very first international trip … am sure we all have gone through that thrilling sensation …! Stay safe , well & healthy