One of the most unforgettable social media moments during the 69th edition of the Miss Universe Pageant was Miss Philippines Rabiya Mateo’s post national competition online feed, which showed her crying unabashedly because of the comments she received from pageant fans about her costume performance. Aside from criticisms about her general presentation during the segment, people were looking for an item which they expected to have a significant part in the costume she was supposed to don: a bejeweled headpiece, symbolizing the country’s three stars and a sun.
The young beauty queen explained she tried her best to put it on despite the fact that it was too heavy as it weighed around 10 kilos. That, plus her heavy Victoria Secret wings of red and blue would have made it impossible for her to glide gracefully on stage, or so she claimed. She even showed how she wounded her finger putting on the headpiece, which she decided to leave backstage at the very last minute.
Not much has been written about the reaction of the “aggrieved” designer, whose masterpiece never made it on last year’s MU stage. He did post a short message on social media, but that was just about it. Nothing else was heard from him after that.
The Thrillmaker recently caught up with him, designer Manny Halasan of Meycauayan, Bulacan, during Miss Universe 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez’s send off at the Hilton Hotel in Resorts World Manila, as he was, once again, announced as the headpiece maker of this year’s Philippine delegate to the 70th edition of the Miss Universe Pageant. Naturally, such an opportunity opened up a chance for pageant fans to be enlightened on the whole Miss Universe headpiece brouhaha last year, as well as on his plans for this year’s national costume competition. Here’s a transcript of how the conversation went:
THRILLMAKER: Hi, Manny. Let’s talk about Rabiya’s headpiece for last year’s Miss Universe National Costume Competition. What was really your design inspiration for it?
MANNY: The inspiration of the headpiece is the galaxy or the whole universe. Yung idea niya, the reason why it’s so big, the wire is so long, para sa stage kasi parang the stars are floating, the planet earth's floating. Kasi nga the whole universe. Meron syang sun sa gitna and may mga stars.
THRILLMAKER: Of course, we were all waiting for her to come out on stage to see her wearing it. What was your reaction when that did not happen?
MANNY: I was so shocked. Naisip ko, kumusta na sya. Anong nangyari, what happened. Pero hindi ako nagalit. Nalungkot. Kasi parang walang glow sa stage. Parang kulang. Kasi mag-gi-glitter sana sya sa stage eh. Pero nung nakita ko medyo flat. So nalungkot ako syempre.
THRILLMAKER: I’m sure you were disappointed. So what did you do?
MANNY: Kasi my whole family’s watching eh. Nanonood kami. Tapos we’re recording the pageant eh, sa phone namin. So, ang ginawa ko umakyat na ako sa room ko. Tumalon ako sa bed ko and then hinug ko lang yung pillow. Tapos everyone, like my cousin, and my mom and my brother, sabi nila, its ok. Baka hindi mo pa time and mag-antay ka lang ng explanation nila, ano nang nangyari. Yun.
THRILLMAKER: Was it really very big and heavy? Would it have made it impossible for Rabiya to navigate the stage if she wore it?
MANNY: To clarify ha, it’s not 15 kilos or 10 kilos. It’s only less than 3 kilos, the problem is it’s so malaki. So medyo mahirap syang isuot alone if walang mag-a-assist sa iyo. Isa pa, hindi nya na-practice kaya hindi nya siguro nagamit.
THRILLMAKER: Sad that it wasn’t used. Did you have to spend a lot to make it?
MANNY: Medyo malaki sya. Lalo in times of pandemic, di ba? It’s made of brass then coated in gold tapos crystals and rhinestones.
THRILLMAKER: Let us now look at the bright side. You’re now given a second chance to showcase your work, this time, for the 70th Miss Universe competition. What’s the inspiration for your design this time?
MANNY: Yung inspiration is from the designer. Parang goddess. Binigay nya lang yung peg sa akin tapos from there ako na nag-create nung headpiece based on the costume na dapat mag-mamatch sa costume nya. Makinang. It’s made of metal, may texture. Same idea nung last year na may texture at di flat sa stage. Ang pinagkaiba lang finit talaga namin. Comfortable yung headpiece, proportion sa head nya and most of all, magma-match talaga sa costume.
THRILLMAKER: Will Bea be able to move comfortably while wearing her headpiece?
MANNY: Kayang irampa, kayang isayaw, kayang i-alog yung ulo wag lang ihe-headbang, hulog sya!