Rabiya and boyfriend Neil

It was a lovely intimate dinner last night with Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo and her boyfriend Neil and my dear friend Voltaire Tayag. Louie Heredia hosted our small gathering at the Ninyo Fusion Cuisine and Wine Lounge in Quezon City.

So nice to spend quality time with our Queen at her most relaxed mode. I truly appreciated having her in our midst as more of an ordinary individual than a titleholder. She was very receptive to all our comments and tips about how she can fine-tune her way of expression as well as differing her style of communication based on the nature of the talk. Voltaire and I focused a bit on how to make her sound less academic (read: teacher) and more spontaneous.

The presence of her boyfriend Neil also helped us to size up the dynamics in their relationship. The guy is very supportive of Rabiya in more ways than one. The pair confessed that the controversy last week regarding the Missosology interview and the Jam Magno vlogs affected them. But positively, it made them stronger and are now able to handle such issues more bravely.

You really need to see and feel the new Rabiya in person to appreciate her gradual transformation. The coming days and weeks will see her deep in training for Miss Universe and I can’t wait to give you more updates.

#MissUniversePhilippines