Vice President Leni Robredo paid homage to an indigenous tribe in Mindanao in her attire as part of her efforts to promote local businesses.

Robredo posed for a photo wearing a NiñoFranco shirt, with T’boli embroidery. This was shared by a staff member of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on his Facebook page.

In his post, Raffy Magno said NiñoFranco is a “Davao-based brand that supports the preservation of different indigenous tribes in Mindanao.”

“VP Leni Robredo and I are wearing our shirts with T’boli embroidery,” he said with hashtags #SupportLocal and #PinoyPride.

The vice president has been promoting locally made products to help businesses recover from the impact brought to them by the coronavirus pandemic.

Robredo has promoted homegrown fashion brand Bayo after some netizens, including actress Vivian Velez, criticized her looks for wearing a blouse during her public address last month.

Instead of fighting back, Robredo took the opportunity to promote Bayo.  She said she and her daughters have been longtime Bayo patrons and fans, and they also use other local brands to help revive the recession-hit economy amid the crisis.

“While it is saddening that they focused on how I looked and not what I said, I want to respond to them this time because it’s (an) opportunity to advocate for #supportlocal,” Robredo said in Filipino.