Miss Universe 2025 third runner-up Ahtisa Manalo amused Filipinos after jokingly using a cloth thrown at her to wipe her arm during Navotas City’s 120th anniversary celebration.
The beauty queen was invited to lead a grand parade honoring the city’s 120th year since its charter.
Ahtisa was accompanied by Sparkle artist Max Collins.
During the parade, an individual tossed a small cloth in her direction as she made her way through the streets.
Before that, she grabbed a handful of candies from a container in front of her and handed them out to the crowd.
When Ahtisa saw the cloth land near her, she gave an amused yet puzzled look toward the person who had thrown it, then jokingly wiped it off her arm.
She then laughed, asked for a marker, and signed the cloth with her name.
The moment was captured on video and posted on Ahtisa’s Facebook page, where she captioned it, “Bakit n’yo ako hinahagisan ng damit [or] panyo?”
Ahtisa also shared more of her reactions in the comments section.
“Na para bang ako ang may pa-fiesta?” she wrote with a grinning-with-sweat emoji.
“Sorry po sa mga tinamaan ng candies sa head,” the beauty queen said in another comment, referring to the sweets she gave from her position in the parade.
“Huwag po magtulakan! Lahat po makakapunas ng panyo,” Ahtisa quipped in a comment, referencing the practice of devotees who wipe their cloth on a religious figure, such as the image of the Black Nazarene, believing it to be miraculous.
When an individual joked about calling Ahtisa “Maria Nazarena,” the beauty queen quipped back with a zany face emoji, “Minus 1M ka sa langit.”
Among Catholics, it is common to wipe a cloth on a religious figure out of deep faith, believing the cloth can absorb the figure’s miraculous healing power. This practice is especially observed during the Traslacion, when the image of the Black Nazarene is transported from the Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church, passing through the streets of Manila, where devotees lay their hands on its carriage or throw cloths for wiping.
