This year’s Bb. Pilipinas Miss International Ma. Ahtisa Manalo may be the youngest in the court but her story is as arresting as any of them

Binibining Pilipinas Miss International 2018 Ma. Ahtisa Manalo may be in for a shock now that all eyes are suddenly on her, especially the netizens’.

Actually, in the weeks leading to her victory, the young lady already has had a taste of what’s to come, admittedly bitter.

“(Many people told me) ‘You won’t get a crown ’cause you’re young.’ And ‘They’re gonna give it to someone who’s more experienced, who’s older, who’s gonna represent the Philippines better,’” were some of the comments she got, almost always unsolicited but biting still.

Instead of getting discouraged, the beauty queen used the negativity as motivation to enjoy her journey and make the most of it. So, at 20, Ahtisa won. Surprisingly, though, this beauty queen from Candelaria, Quezon did not dream of wearing a crown on head at all.

Looking back on her childhood, Ahtisa was actually boyish. It was only on fifth grade that she started joining pageants but just to earn extra points for engaging in extracurricular activities.

In high school, she joined provincial contests as Binibining Quezon, then Ms. Teen Earth Philippines.

Then the rest is history.

In preparing for her Binibing Pilipinas stint, Ahtisa did a lot of training – weights and cardio, etc.

“Kahit ano pwede mong kainin basta namimaintain mo ’yung physique mo” she said. “Nu’ng pahuli na kasi syem-