Vanessa Hudgens 'Doing Everything That She Can' to Show She's a Proud Filipino
Vanessa Hudgens speaks up about being criticized that she is not Filipino enough to be chosen by the government as the global tourism ambassador of the Philippines
Following the criticism she receives about denying her Filipino heritage, Hudgens cleared things up about her stand on her roots.
The 34-year-old Hudgens is a Filipino-American Hollywood actress who rose to fame in the High School Musical film series in the early 2000s. In March 2023, she visited the Philippines after being selected as the global tourism ambassador of the Philippines.
This is also her first visit to the country, the home country of her Filipino mom, Gina Guangco. But she ended up receiving criticism for being chosen as tourism ambassador because she was raised in American culture.
In Vanessa's own words, she was raised, as “super, super American.” The actress-singer admitted this in Marie Lodi's interview for Allure, which appeared on September 14, 2023.
She also said that his mother did not speak Tagalog at home.
Vanessa said, "Yes, I had rice with every meal, but I didn't necessarily feel like I was super separated from the other kids in school, just because my upbringing was so extremely American.
Since going to America, her mother was only able to return to the Philippines when a family member died in 2019.
After being pressed as the tourism ambassador of the Philippines, Hudgens went to the Philippines this March 2023, with her brother and mother.
Vanessa said that one of the reasons she accepted the tourism project was because she wanted to know her origins.
She said that she had a "missing piece" because she did not know anything about his Filipino background.
When she went to the Philippines, Vanessa returned to her roots.
"It felt so empowering to know where you're from, and be able to represent your heritage," she said to Allure.
From: PEP.ph
