Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 Dia Mate of the Philippines. Reina Hispanoamericana/Facebook 

Dia Mate is filled with gratitude with pride after winning the Philippines' second Reina Hispanoamericana crown.

The Filipina beauty queen made history in Bolivia after emerging victorious in the Latina-dominated Reina Hispanoamericana 2025 pageant. 

She followed in the footsteps of Winwyn Marquez, who won the country's first Reina Hispanoamericana title in 2017. 

"I'm just so grateful and proud that I got the second crown for the Philippines," the 22-year-old singer-songwriter said in an interview with the pageant website Missosology.

Mate is looking forward to her activities as the new titleholder -- which would involve a lot of traveling to promote Hispanic culture.

She sees it as an opportunity to showcase what the Philippines has to offer: "I'm so excited for what the organization has in store for me. I know that's traveling around different Latin American countries, promoting Hispanic culture. And I get to promote my Filipino culture, which is almost the same as Latinos."

When asked to react to comments that she should not have been a Reina Hispanoamericana candidate since she is from Asia, the beauty queen replied: "The Philippines, we have the same culture as the Latinas -- we just live in a different continent. It does not mean that we cannot embrace Hispanic culture."

Aside from her reign, Mate also plans to continue her career as a singer-songwriter, and hopes to expand her reach to Latin America. 

She has been using music as a tool for mental illness, believing that it can "heal others and yourself as well."

"I want people to remember me by me heart, how I care about people, and how I want to empower them through my music and my voice," she declared. 

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