ILONGGA stunner Rabiya Mateo’s journey to the Miss Universe beauty pageant is not just a quest to bag the crown of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant. This is also a journey of self-discovery to make herself whole.
In the United States where Mateo is competing against 73 other candidates, she hopes to find a missing piece of herself – her estranged biological father. Reconnecting with the man who chose her name – for the Philippine representative, this is another equally, if not much more, important mission.
The 24-year-old beauty has been very candid about her humble beginnings. Her parents separated when she was younger than five years old and she and her only brother were raised by their mother all by her lonesome. Life was very difficult. Because she grew up without a father, Mateo said her recollection of him is vague as she was very, very young then when he left them.
In an Instagram post in June last year while preparing for the Miss Universe Philippines contest, Mateo posted a photo of her father cuddling her as a baby. “We were not together for a very long time and I almost forgot how you look like. Good thing my Aunt had saved some of our photos together,” she captioned the photo.
Through her exposure in the Miss Universe pageant, Mateo hopes to meet her father, Muslim Indian medical doctor Syed Mohammed Abdullah Moqueet Hashmi believed to be based in the United States. It was her father who chose her name, said Mateo. Rabiya means princes in Arabic.
According to Mateo, she never held a grudge against her father, thanks to her doting mother. “Be kind always. That’s something that I learned from my mother,” she said.
In her Instagram post that also served as a message to her father, Mateo further wrote: “I never blamed you…I will continue to be a breadwinner (of) our family, a good daughter to Mama, and a good role model to (younger brother) Mokmok. I will push myself…every single day so that when the time comes…we meet again, you will (say) how proud you are that I’m your daughter…who knows, when that day comes I might be a doctor like you.”
According to Mateo, the last confirmed location of her father was Chicago where he was supposedly working. “I pray that wherever you are, you’re surrounded by people who love you and take good care of you. I hope you still think about me because I always think about you,” Mateo posted on Instagram. Her father was taking up Medicine at Fatima College in Metro Manila in the 1990s and it was there where he met and fell in love with Mateo’s mom.
“Never try to plant hatred or anger over your biological dad because it’s gonna ruin you. It’s gonna ruin your perspective in life. Try to understand the situation,” Mateo advised children caught in predicaments similar to hers. When Mateo and her younger brother were having a hard time studying, she said her mother would remind them how hard their father had it while he was studying Medicine.
According to Rabiya, this inspired her to study better. “I told myself I had to study well. I had to graduate cum laude so when Daddy sees me, he’d be proud of me,” she added. Will the Miss Universe pageant increase Mateo’s chances of reconnecting with her?
The Ilongga beauty queen has this to say: “I feel there’s still hope. And maybe I might find him because I have his name, I know his name and his birthday. So maybe I can have a track of where he is if he’s alive or not.” If she does, it would be the crowning glory of her Miss Universe journey./PN
