The student council

MANILA, Philippines - It’s not always about being the “popular kid.” Take Cher Horowitz, Link Larkin, and Elle Woods for instance. While they are revered as perfect specimens (the kind you want to hate on, actually), they are surprisingly good-natured, talented and have the “X factor” and pedigree thing down pat. Ava Daza, Laureen Uy, Patricia Prieto, Nicole Andersson, and Jeff Ortega are cut from the same cloth. Ava Daza is only in her senior year of college but is already blossoming well into womanhood. The younger sister of Isabelle Daza and daughter of Miss Universe Gloria Diaz herself, she started her own blog with BFF and cousin Jess Wilson and is looking to establish her own furniture company with some friends and do side projects upon graduating. Budding actress Laureen Uy who returns to TV next year via the teleserye Kailangan  Ko’y Ikaw is fast becoming a household name like her older siblings Vince and Liz. Also a top fashion blogger in the country, she is carving her own niche in the industry with her maximalist fashion sense and very own retail line (Style Break). Patricia Prieto, while having had her fair share of trials this year, continues to be one of the most followed fashion bloggers in the country. A trusted brand ambassador for retail empires, she is also now a cover girl like her model sister Pauline and is getting her feet wet as a budding stylist. Nicole Andersson burst onto the scene early on but saw her career go full throttle in 2012. She is a rising fashion blogger, marketing and PR consultant, TV correspondent for The Source, and like Ava and Laureen, is one of Close Up’s newest brand ambassadors.

Finally, Jeff Ortega who is relatively new to the scene spent 2012 laying the foundations for making La Union into a sought-after tourist destination. Having been a sometime brand ambassador himself for Stokedinc, he is in the process of establishing the La Union Surf School and is excited to be part of next year’s Tomorrowland-themed Surf Break Festival.