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This is an excerpt of the June 2025 Cover Story Ahtisa Manalo fell. It was midway through her evening gown walk as a candidate during the Miss Universe Philippines 2025 coronation night. Her heel snagged her pink, ruffled Val Taguba gown. Her knees hit the floor. She didn’t cry. She didn’t freeze. She got up. “I just knew that I wanted to get up,” she recalls. “Like the moment I fell, there was no question in my head—I think those were one of the few instances where I had thoughts. Alam mo ‘yung patay-malisya? I was like—maybe if I pretend nothing happened, they would think the same.” But something did happen. A roar rippled through the crowd, not of shock, but of support. “What’s crazy to me was I thought they were already shouting loud for me when I went out,” she says. “But when I fell, and I started […]
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