American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez showed how proud she is of her Filipino heritage by endorsing the Department of Tourism's (DOT) "It's More Fun in the Philippines" campaign, ABS-CBNNews.com reports. In a photo posted by DOT's Ren Sapitan on his Twitter account, @RenSaps, Jessica could be seen smiling and making a thumbs-up gesture while holding a sign with the slogan.

In a text message to ABS-CBNNews.com, Sapitan, who is the executive assistant to the secretary of tourism, said the Filipino-Mexican singer agreed to have her photo taken during her courtesy call to President Noynoy Aquino in Los Angeles on June 8.

“I showed her the placard and told her that the Tourism Department is promoting its new tourism campaign, so I asked her if she would mind having me take her photo with the sign," he is quoted as saying. "Without hesitation, she said 'Sure' and smiled."

Sapitan also gave Sanchez's Filipina mom a logo magnet of the campaign as a souvenir.

Sanchez will be in the Philippines for the American Idol concert on September 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, GMANetwork.com reports. According to N91 Live Productions's chief executive officer, Jun Mamangon, there is also a possibility that she will be singer Jennifer Lopez's front act when she holds her concert in the Philippines on November 24.


(Photo by Ren Sapitan)