Reigning Miss Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo has recalled her humble beginnings in Iloilo as she went to school with only two notebooks and P5.00 baon.

"When I was in elementary, I did not have much. I remember, I only had 5 pesos as my baon back then. I only had 2 notebooks for my 8 subjects. I used the same shoes from grade 4-6. I had no laptop, no internet access, and there were moments I even needed to go to my classmate’s house to borrow crayons and materials (thank you, @graciellalalooove)," said Rabiya on Instagram Feb. 2.

Despite the hardships, Mateo vowed to study hard to succeed. 

"I was happy studying and doing my school work. I made a promise to myself that when I reach that point of success, I would give back," she said.

Mateo said she wanted to inspire and motivate children to achieve greater goals.

"I want to share my story to those children who are experiencing the same hardships. I want to inspire and motivate them to achieve greater things in their lives. As your Ambassador for Education, my goal is to go to different schools all over the country and offer any help we can give," she also said.

Recently, the beauty queen donated school supplies, 150 pairs of slippers and educational materials to the Zaragosa Integrated School in Badian Island. The school is 2-3 hours away from Cebu City, she said.

"Many students need to walk 45 mins to an hour just to get there. These kids have big dreams for themselves and their families. You can see the drive to succeed in their eyes. Thank you to all the generous donors for making this possible," Mateo added.

Mateo will represent the Philippines in the 2020 Miss Universe beauty pageant in a venue to be announced this year.