17-year-old Zoe Gabriel, the Pinay teen who went viral for her “first luxury bag” from Charles and Keith has a heart-pinching message to her bashers.
“The message I would like to give to my bashers and haters is that I still believe they have a lot of potential and I believe that they’re not inherently bad people. I still believe that they’re good. I hope they know that there’s to love and that they know who they are,” Zoe told the Philippine STAR during an interview.
Zoe said that she learned several lessons from her “unique” journey.
“When I first made that video, I wasn’t aiming to ‘teach a lesson,’ I was more of aiming to share my opinion on the matter,” she shared.
“The more I reflect, the more things I see, the more things I noticed have thought me or changed me. I think another thing that I realized through this experience is that ‘Not all gifts have to be tangible.’ The best gifts are like memories and this whole experience has just been one big gift on itself,” Zoe stressed.
Growing up, Zoe said that she used to be quiet and tolerate a lot of things in her life. The incident pushed her to be brave enough to speak up for herself.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve been learning to stand up for myself and trying to gain the courage to do so. That was just one of the instances that I felt brave enough to speak up,” she noted.
Zoe is the eldest among four siblings and her family is currently based in Singapore. Her parents are both Filipinos. Her father works as a mechanical engineer, while her mom is a full-time housewife.
After receiving several reactions from the public, her family became her strength and anchor. “Thank you for raising me to be the person I am today. I wouldn’t be who I am right now if it wasn’t for them.”
Zoe shared that she still can’t believe how things turned out. The incident also opened some opportunities for her and her family.
“I have received emails from South East Asia like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and then I’ve heard from Taiwan, Hongkong, Dubai, and the US. I am just excited to see what happens, what happens next,” Zoe shared.
“It’s giving me a lot of opportunities but, I think one of my favorite things about this whole experience is I think it brought my family close together,” she said.
Zoe wants to be a creative writer someday. She plans to continue her studies while entertaining other opportunities.
“Keep your head held high and don’t let anyone take your happiness away from you cause it’s like fully yours,” Zoe said when asked about her message to the public.
