00:10you know like also history has shown that Filipino women and also like men they've won the crown by
00:23being full-blood Filipinas and Filipinos so I don't think that necessarily just the halfies have that
00:32kind of advantage of winning the crown I think you know they've proven also full-blood Filipinas
00:38that they brought a lot of pride to the country without being a half and me as a happy also
00:45I'm
00:45half Italian and Filipina honestly I do take pride from both cultures you know I love my Italian
00:54heritage because that's my dad's side and I love exploring my Filipino heritage which is my mom's
01:01side and also my baby you know somehow is also and happy but yeah I think it's also important like
01:10I
01:10decided and I wanted to represent the Philippines in Miss Universe and that's because Philippines
01:16has always been in my heart Filipino Italian when is it a blessing and when is it a curse
01:23um you know growing up honestly I felt like I never belonged anywhere because when I was in Italy and
01:31living there I was bullied because of my Asian side and then when I came here to the Philippines
01:38I've I've always been told that I'm not Filipina enough to represent the country so you know you
01:44kind of get to a point where you don't know where you belong and it took a lot for me
01:52to understand
01:53that and to really process that and get to a point where I don't have to choose one culture but
01:59I can
02:00be proud I also came to the Philippines by myself you know I didn't know how to speak English or
02:05Tagalog and
02:06it was just really really hard and I had to really go through the process and maybe get hurt and
02:13get
02:13bashed or like feel helpless or feel like I don't belong here but eventually you really grow up so I
02:24think I really grew from it and I really understood that I can belong anywhere both Italy and the Philippines
02:32and that's also what I want to teach my son that he doesn't have to choose right he can be
02:38both
03:21you
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