Months ago, I was contacted by a Slovakian editor to participate and represent the Philippines for their mag's editorial entitled, Fashion Patriots. More or less, the concept of the shoot was to have bloggers from different countries shoot themselves in an outfit that best represents their country and to explain it. Naturally, I was thrilled. I love my country and I am proud to be Filipino. Granted, as a race, we do have some flaws in society and in our government, I find that what nation doesn't? So despite that, I never actually thought of wanting to change my citizenship even if I have had many opportunities to do so. I am not a hero... I am perhaps very far from becoming one but if I were asked to be proud of my country in a platform that I am engaged in (aka. fashion blogging)... I will put effort on it because I wouldn't want to do my country the disservice of presenting something half-baked or worse, something that would wound our nation more. I thought and brainstormed on this particular shoot...a lot and when it came out on the website this week, I was proud to have delivered. There's also some strange comfort in realizing that while I cannot be in Slovakia, it's nice to have my photo reach the country (which I confessed, I had to Google) and also to orient them that the Philippines exists (they probably will have to Google our country's location as well) and that where I am from, there a lot of fashionably people...Fashion Patriots... in their own right.
