She has always been a maong (jeans) girl.
But Davao City Mayor Inday Sara had a change of heart when friends and supporters started to send her handwoven fabrics that are uniquely made in Mindanao as gifts.
And so she asked her tailor to make some pants and even skirts just to get a feel of it. And she is pleased! From then on, it's the soft locally-made fabric for her everyday get up. And they are getting noticed.
So Mayor Inday Sara addressed the netizens’ curiosity through a post on her Facebook page. “Marami po ang nagtatanong saan ko nabili ang mga pants ko. Nagsimula po ako magsuot ng ganito dahil madami nagbibigay sa akin ng tela mula sa mga kaibigan ko sa ZamBaSulTa at ilang lugar sa BARMM,” she wrote.
ZamBaSulTa is the acronym for Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi while BARMM is short for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Indigenous tribes residing in these areas are the major producer of the handwoven fabrics that the lady mayor is now proudly wearing.
“Napakaganda ng habi natin, ayaw ko na bumalik sa mga boring na maong! Proudly made in Mindanao,” Inday Sara said.
The post has been trending and shared by netizens almost 700 times. It generated more than 32,000 likes and almost a thousand comments.
Netizen Nasr Maulana thanked the Mayor for promoting Mindanao fabrics: “Salamat Mayora for being a voluntary endorser of our products. You are helping lots of weavers who basically belong to the lower income earners. Mabuhay po kayo.”