Beauty queen Ahtisa Manalo was proclaimed as Miss Universe 2025 3rd runner up at the coronation of Miss Universe 2025 on Friday, Nov. 21, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Mexico’s Fatima Bosch took home the Miss Universe crown.
During the final question and answer portion, Ahtisa was asked, “If you win the title of Miss Universe tonight, how would you use this platform to empower young girls?”
Ahtisa shared her determination to continue supporting youth through the organization Alon Akademie in providing equal opportunities for all.
”I work with an organization called Alon Akademie, where we work with young people to provide them opportunities to make them realize that it doesn’t matter what your life circumstances is, it doesn’t define where you will go,” said Ahtisa.
“And I wanna continue working with Alon Akademie in a bigger platform like Miss Universe to pursue making sure that people who come from low income backgrounds are given the same opportunities as everyone else. Thank you,” she continued.
Before the announcement, during the first question-and-answer for the Top 5, Ahtisa expressed her aspiration to utilize Miss Universe as a platform to provide support and guidance to youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
“I wanna be the hope of people. I come from a very poor background. I started pageants at ten years old to put myself through school and to lift my family out of poverty. And if there’s anything that I wanna show the universe, I’m here right now,” Ahtisa stated.
“I’m standing as Miss Universe because I was able to get myself out of any situation because I was hardworking, I was persistent, and I fight for what I want. Thank you,” she continued.
Thailand’s Praveenar Singh placed first runner-up, Stephany Abasali of Venezuela bagged the second runner-up spot, and Olivia Yacé of Cote D’ Ivoire took the fourth runner-up place.
