Actress and global fashion muse Heart Evangelista is setting the record straight after a string of viral TikTok and Facebook comments jokingly claimed she was anything but Filipino.
The buzz began after Heart appeared in a TikTok video by Confidence Heist creator David Carmi, where he asked her what gives her confidence. What followed was a flood of playful comments from netizens:
“Vietnamese pride. Heart Nguyen 🇻🇳”
“Indonesian pride — Heart Ginting 🇮🇩”
“She’s from Brazil, we like her 🇧🇷”
Even the comment section on Facebook pages sharing the clip joined in on the mock nationality game — turning the Filipino style icon into an honorary citizen of nearly every country imaginable.
But Heart wasn’t having it.
On July 22, the actress took to Instagram to post photos of herself in a stunning white Filipiniana gown, captioning the post simply:
“Filipina 🇵🇭 (Lilinawin ko lang. I am Heart Evangelista and I am from the Philippines)”
In the comments, she doubled down:
“I am Heart Evangelista Escudero and I am from the Philippines. Para malinaw.”
The post has since garnered over 160,000 likes, with fans cheering her on for proudly embracing her roots.
Born Love Marie Payawal Ongpauco in Manila, Heart is the daughter of restaurateur Reynaldo Ongpauco and Cecilia del Gallego Payawal, and is very much Filipino by blood and birth — despite what social media comedians might joke.
Whether she’s sitting front row at Paris Fashion Week or gracing Filipino TV screens, Heart continues to represent the Philippines on the global stage — and now, she’s made sure the world knows it.
