NEW Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday she was unimpressed by her “scratchy” and “starchy” Barong Tagalog that she wore during the gala dinner of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit on Sunday.
She told New Zealand’s reporters following her in Manila that the “silly” shirts were scratchy and “quite starched.”
“I’m not going to sniff the shirt on camera,” she said when asked what the shirts smelled like.
The Barong Tagalog, an embroidered formal shirt made of piña or jusi fiber, is the national dress of the Philippines.
Ardern, who criticized the number of deaths under Duterte’s war on drugs, said regional security would be on top of the agenda during the East Asia Summit held Tuesday.
The same day, a memorandum of agreement was signed between Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines David Strachan in front of Ardern to strengthen the geothermal energy cooperation between the two countries. John Paolo Bencito
