Another Filipina makes history in the pageantry world. Dia Mate gets crowned as Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
During the pageant's coronation night on February 9, Dia bested over 24 beauty queens from various countries with Hispanic roots. The 23-year-old beauty queen showcased not just her beauty but also her intelligence to the crowd at Reina Hispanoamericana.
When it was time for her question and answer portion, Dia was asked the question, "What values do you think are the most important to our society, and why do you think this is important?" She made a flawless answer, putting a spotlight on kindness as the most important value.
Here's a snippet of her winning answer: "I think the most important value that we should have is kindness. In my experience here in Bolivia, Latinas have shown me so much kindness and so much love even though racially I am not Latino. And the most beautiful thing I've noticed is that even though we don't speak the same language, we share the same culture, same heart, and same faith in God, and I hope this shows everybody that if we use kindness we can show that we are all the same and can create a better world and a better society for us all."
Dia is the second Filipina to win the said beauty pageant. In 2017, Winwyn Marquez became the first Filipina Reina Hispanoamericana. The pageant began in 1991 with only 10 South American countries competing for the title. It was only in 2017 that the Philippines was added to the countries who can participate in the competition.
ALSO READ: Winwyn Marquez Is Competing In Miss Universe Philippines 2025
Prior to the final coronation, Dia successfully won the Best National Costume Award as well with her Banaag gown designed by Ehrran Montoya. The costume gets inspiration from the historic baroque churches in the Philippines. Adorned with more than 150,000 crystals, Dia's national costume stunned the Bolivia crowd. Don't forget that her look was also completed with the ever-so-classic salakot headpiece, paying homage to true Filipino heritage.
Along with Dia, six other beauty queens were crowned that night. Venezuela's Sofía Fernandez emerged as the Virreina a.k.a. Vice Queen, Sharon Gamarra from Colombia stood as the 1st runner-up of the competition, followed by Spain's Carolina Barroso, Peru's Nikita Palma, Brazil's Julia De Castro, and Poland's Zuzanna Balonek, respectively.
juan karlos congratulates girlfriend Dia Mate
As the country celebrates Dia's win, her boyfriend, juan karlos also known as JK Labajo penned the sweetest congratulatory message for Dia. He shared just how happy and proud he is of his girlfriend. "My love, CONGRATULATIONS! You've worked so hard to get to where you are now, and it fills my heart with warmth and joy to witness your growth and see how far you've come. You deserve all the good things life has to offer because you never gave up!" he began in his post.
His post also included a carousel of Dia's candid and lovely photos. He noted that Dia's win in Hispanoamericana 2025 is just the beginning of Dia's wonderful journey. "To my sweet, kind, loving, and beautiful soul—inside and out—my baby girl, my baba, my queen: I love you more than words can express. Te amo mucho, mi amor," JK ends his post. The two went public with their relationship in February 2024.