"I brought here with me, at the land of the rising sun, a sun of my own — BAHAGHABI. BAHAGHABI is a play on words of "bahaghari" or rainbow and "habi" or weave.

It describes the colorful weaving together of different elements, eventually creating a cultural tapestry that shows unity of the Filipino people amidst the diversity in the subcultures of its different peoples and tribes.

BAHAGHABI continuously weaves her people together, regardless of their differences and beliefs. As part of the young generation, I want my peers to be acquianted with loomweaving and invite them as well to join me in sustaining it and eventually passing it on to the generations after us.

From my painting hand, I offer BAHAGHABI. And from our joined us, the Filipino youth hold the promise of a bright future - a pot of gold - resulting from the interwoven differences of a rainbow nation."

The painting LAKBAYANI is my tribute to all oFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) who work abroad so that they can help sustain their families in our home country, the Philippines. They have been dubbed the modern heroes, for they also sustain the nation's economy through their dollar remittances.

Balikbayan boxes are boxes filled with things such as clothes, shoes, chocolates, home goods — basically anything that can fit inside the box. BALIK means to come back, and BAYAN means country. Thus, BALIKBAYAN roughly translates to coming home to one's country, and is often used to refer to people who come back to the Philippines from a country they have been residing in for a long time. With BALIKBAYAN affixed with BOX, we can visualize a balikbayan box and OFWs, who gradually fill it up with goodies then send to their families back home. The balikbayan box acts as a substitute for their presence since they reside and work in far-away lands (and seas, for seafarers).

I read an article in Rappler about OFWs, and this part really hit home and inspired me a lot as I painted LAKBAYANI —

"When you're an OFW, you have to pretend you believe in a time paradox: that it speeds up for the OFW, while it slows down for everyone else. You have to delude yourself into thinking it slows down or stops altogether.

This, for me, is the most loving kind of illusion, these OFWs who build houses they do not live in and support children they cannot embrace."

LAKBAYANI is all OFWs (and also Filipinos who have become citizens of other countries) - travelling abroad to chase their dreams and even live them but with twice the challenges because they are sometimes considered "the others" in their new home countries; managing the adventure of residing and working in another country, apart from their immediate and extended families; yet always, and never stopped, loving their families they left behind, with this love conveyed in every item contained in the balikbayan box.