LoveYourself Opens LGBTQ+ Pride Month with Bursts of Colors

This year’s celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month is shaping up to be a vibrant occasion, bustling events and projects. It was ushered in aptly with bang as LoveYourself, Inc. led “Pride Night,” a  seven-hour long extravaganza, from 5 p.m. to 12 midnight, on June 1, 2024. About 5,000 LGBTQ+ persons and allies, most of them young, trooped to the open grounds of development complex Bridgetowne Destination Estate at the border of Pasig City and Quezon City to celebrate who they are, show support for different causes and to enjoy the show that included drag performances and messages of celebrities, among others.

With the theme, “Honoring Past, Present, and Future,” to highlight the difficult journey, the achievements and aspirations of the LGBTQ+ community, “LoveYourself’s Pride Night” featured performances by drag queens—the first winner of Drag Race Philippines Precious Paula Nicole, Drag Race Philippines Season 2 winner Captivating Katkat, and Drag Den Season 2 Drag Supreme Deja. Viñas Deluxe, Brigiding, Bernie, Arizona Brandy, Lady Gagita, Deedee Marie Holliday, MC Black, Maxie, Hana Beshie, OV Cunt, Myx Chanel, Mrs. Tan, Matilduh, JQuinn, Dyxtruxia, Salmo Nella, Sexy Wanda Mina, Royalties, LY Queens, House of Ding, Alab Poi Fire, and Mocha Gays also graced the stage, affirming that drag remains important in local queer culture. 

            They were joined by Phi Palmos, Anton Diva, Raven Heyres, John Saga, Makki Lucino and Jewel Jhonson, who offered songs. Social media personalities Miss Deliciousness and Poca (Warren Daniel Osinaga), on the other hand, served as hosts.

            Beauty queens, who have long been associated with queer culture, made appearances to show solidarity with the community. Miss Universe 2015 and UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) Ambassador Pia Wurtzbach-Jauncy, who has worked with LoveYourself for several years now, made a special appearance, marked by waving the rainbow flag onstage, pictures of which she posted on her Instagram account (@piawurtzbach). 

She wrote: “Waving this flag with PRIDE! For over a decade, I've cherished supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. And this time...exciting plans ahead! Teaming up with @loveyourself.ph and the City of Taguig to establish a youth center, ensuring safety and happiness of this community. I couldn't think of a better way of celebrating 10 years since the

Miss Universe crown by giving back and making sure this advocacy has a dedicated space.”

            Other beauty queens who also graced the event were Miss International Queen Philippines 2024 Sophia Nicole Arkanghel and the Miss Universe Philippines 2024 winners—Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Chelsea Manalo, Miss Supranational Philippines 2025 Tarah Valencia, Miss Cosmo International Philippines 2024 Ahtisa Manalo, Miss Charm Philippines 2025 Cyrille Payumo and Miss Eco International Philippines 2025 Alexie Brooks.

Candidates of Mr. Gay World Philippines 2024 also attended to express support.

            Aside from the show, “LoveYourself’s Pride Night” has other features—the Wall of Love Letters, where attendees could write for and read love letters from other attendees in the hope of sparking connections and express opinions on issues; the “Rainbow History Lane,” an exhibit that featured highlights in LGBTQ+ history; and the Pride Magazine Photo Booth, where attendees could take photos to share and create personal memories. There was also a fair where different booths offered Pride merch, food and services. 

Simultaneously happening with “LoveYourself’s Pride Night” was the Cebu Pride Festival 2024 Opening Night House Party at LoveYourself Cebu White House in Cebu City, Cebu, organized by LoveYourself Cebu and the Cebu Pride Movement team. An avenue for partying, networking and sparking collaboration, it was attended by 153 local LGBTQ+ advocates representing 72 community organizations, private institutions, brands, public sectors, media, and entertainment groups. It served as a kickoff event for a monthlong series of Pride events in the biggest city in Central Visayas. 

“As someone deeply embedded in this community, I understand the importance of every voice, every story, and every ally,” wrote Ronnievinn Garcia Pagtakhan, executive director and founder of LoveYourself, a non-governmental group that focuses on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention and other LGBTQ+ health issues, wrote on Facebook after “LoveYourself’s Pride Night” on June 2. “We must continuously seek out and cultivate new allies, fostering connections that strengthen our shared mission for equality and acceptance.”

            In same post, he called on the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to advocate for “comprehensive sexual health services, robust mental health support, and dedicated trans health care” and “for inclusive and affirming legislation that protects and empowers every member of our community.” 

He also encouraged them to choose kindness, saying, “When we encounter ignorance or misinformation, let’s commit to educating and uplifting, rather than condemning. We act better when we know more, and it’s our duty to spread that knowledge compassionately.”

Pagtakhan highlighted drag culture, writing, “Drag is not just performance; it’s a vibrant part of our culture and history. It embodies the creativity, talent, and unapologetic self-expression that defines us.” 

He also remembered that “drag queens and kings started the first Pride protest,” quoting Sylvia Rivera, one of the Stonewall protesters who is now a historical figure: “We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. We have to show the world that we are numerous. There are many of us out there.” 

He also expressed gratitude to partners, allies, families and friends.

            “Within our community, let’s advocate for the acceptance of all SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics) and practice respect and understanding towards those whose SOGIESC may differ from our own,” he added. “To those outside our community, we seek not just tolerance but true acceptance. We all deserve to live openly and authentically without fear of prejudice or discrimination.”

“Let’s celebrate our progress, recognize the work ahead, and reaffirm our commitment to a future where every LGBTQIA+ individual is seen, heard, and valued. Let us reclaim the words ‘bakla’ and ‘tomboy.’ May they never be derogatory terms again, but words that signify pride, talent, and gift,” he ended.

'Drag Den' Season 2 Drag Supreme Deja (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Booths offering services and selling merch beside the stage (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

'Drag Den' Season 2 contestant Hana Beshie (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Drag performer group Royalties (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The Rainbow History Lane exhibit (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Maxie (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The Wall of Love Letters (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Celebration of Ilocano Textile Weaver and Manlilikha ng Bayan Magdalena Gamayo’s Birth Centenary Kicks Off

Ilocano textile weaver and Manlilkha ng Bayan Magdalena Gamayo (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Longevity, as exemplified by persons reaching 100 years old or more, is valued in many cultures, and always amazes us. More than testaments of survival, they are witnesses to history and widely considered as fonts of wisdom formed by lifetime of experiences and learning. More admirable are the bearers of knowledge of practices and crafts that are in the verge of vanishing for they are living vessels of stories that tell of the journey of the community and of humanity. Thus, Ilocano textile weaver Magdalena Gamayo’s birth centennial is fittingly regarded not only as her personal milestone but a national one. 

Gamayo was awarded the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or Order of National Living Treasures, which is at the same level as the Order of National Artists, in 2012. GAMABA is the Philippine state’s highest honor for exemplary artisans, craftsmen and practitioners of traditional, folk and indigenous arts and crafts who do not only upholds traditions but also produces works of outstanding quality and pass the knowledge to members of their communities. 

Gamayo, who still weaves traditional textiles using the wooden upright loom, was born on August  13, 1924 in Ilocos Norte. Like many of the Malilikha ng Bayan, she lost or do not have a birth certificate. There was a baptismal certificate, when she was baptized in Badoc but it was destroyed in a fire, according to the Badoc parish office. For the late registration of her birth, her marriage certificate and her relatives’ birth certificates served as bases to estimate her date of birth. 

            The NCCA, which administers the GAMABA, is spearheading a yearlong celebration of Gamayo’s birth centenary with a series of commemorative events. This is the second time that the state’s main cultural agency is holding a centennial year celebration for a Manlilikha ng Bayan. The first one was for the late Bagobo Manobo ikat textile weaver Salinta Monon in 2020 and 2021. This is the first time NCCA is celebrating for a living Manlilikha ng Bayan.

            The Gamayo celebration kickstarted with the unveiling of the birth centennial logo on May 6, 2024, marking the beginning of a 100-day countdown to Gamayo's birthday and also a yearlong fete. The program was held at her home in the purok of Ulidan in Lumbaan-Bicbica, Pinili, where a community weaving center and a cultural center have been built. 

            The program was opened by Adelita Romualdo Bagcal, a practitioner of the dallot, an Ilocano oral tradition, from the adjacent town of Banna, and a recently declared Manlilikha ng Bayan, who chanted a prayer that she composed. Among performances by the Ilocos Norte National High School Tamboreros, the Ilocos Norte National High School Tagnawa Dance Troupe, and the Northwestern University Saguday Chorale, NCCA chairman Victorino Mapa Manalo, Pinili mayor Rommel Labasan, and Presidential Assistant for Northern Luzon Ana Carmela V. Remigio delivered their messages and paid their own tributes to Gamayo. On the other hand, senator Loren Legarda sent her keynote message through a video recording, and Reden S. Ulo, head of the Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts and the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Executive Council, read the rationale behind the design of the logo.

Designed by the GAMABA Executive Council, the logo, its elements and meanings are explained, rather exuberantly, thus: “In the realm of the weaving, a rectangular foundation stands as a symbol of balance and stability, mirroring the profound essence of the human mind. As the base lies horizontally, it signifies continuity, perpetuating the timeless legacy of wisdom bestowed upon generations yet to come. Gracing the base are the kusikos patterns, one of the most known patterns of the inabel.”

Kusikos is the Ilocano word for “whirlwind,” while inabel means “something woven.”

“It is within this space that the master weaver, Manlilikha ng Bayan Magdalena Gamayo, finds solace and unwavering concentration—few of the crucial traits possessed by Nana Daleng, who unwaveringly maintains composure and unyielding dedication while bringing forth remarkable textiles of unparalleled excellence. AIso featured in the logo as well is the pangablan—the Ilocano loom, the channel where the Ilocano weavers conjure beautiful textiles that mark the outstanding artistry of the Ilocano people. The base along with the logo elements are rendered in violet depicting the most favored color of MB Magdalena Gamayo,” the NCCA further said. “Beside her is the 100 icon that depicts her Birth Centennial rendered in white to easily communicate the celebration to the public.”

Gamayo herself expressed her gratitude and led the logo unveiling, marked by fireworks, before the audience comprising of guests, local and national government representatives, weavers of the community, and students of weaving.  

Also revealed during the event were the series of events and projects honoring Gamayo. Even before this kickoff, there have been activities that celebrate Gamayo’s centenary—“Panaglaga ti Lagda: Weave Transcending Time,” a fashion show in Davao City in August 2023; the exhibit, “Inubon a Dayaw: The Life and Works of Manlilikha ng Bayan Magdalena Gamayo,” at the NCCA Gallery in Intramuros, Manila, in October 2023; and the 2024 NCCA calendar dedicated to Gamayo.

            The centennial events and projects include an online promotional campaign that includes the weavers of the community and students of the weaving training program; turnover of Gamayo’s works to the National Museum of the Philippines’ Ilocos Regional Museum on June 24; “The Inabel Textile Tradition of Ilocos Region and the Legacy of MB Magdalena Gamayo,” an online lecture on July 19; her birthday on August 13; the culmination of Sagut: 100 Learners for Gamayo’s 100, a weaving learning program led by Dr. Edwin V. Antonio, vice head of the NCCA National Committee on Northern Cultural Communities and director of the program, in August; an inabel weaving competition throughout the Ilocos Region from October to November; a lecture series held across the nation from October to December; a traveling exhibition on Gamayo’s works and legacy from February to May 2025; and a culminating event with the launch of a coffee-table book on August 13, 2025.

With the theme, “Ang Inabel ni Magdalena Gamayo, Sinapupunan ng Ugnayang Pampamayanan,” the centennial celebration is guided, according to NCCA, by principles of the “ancestral wisdom” carried by Gamayo; “the passing on of knowledge and expertise to future generations;” and “the significance of youth as culture bearers, as the enduring guardians to carry forward the Ilocano weaving tradition.”

As it highlights Gamayo’s life marked by her dedication to weaving, which she learned at sixteen years old and practices until now, and her upholding of excellence in her craft, and her impact on local and national cultures, it also aims to engage the younger generations in safeguarding heritage and the Filipinos to be inspired by Gamayo. 

A half-finished pinilian textile still on the wooden loom (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Dallot practitioner and Manlilkha ng Bayan Adelita Bagcal led the prayer during the program (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The hands of Magdalena Gamayo, which have woven textiles and upheld tradition, now its fingernails painted with design inspired by a textile pattern inubon a sabong   (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Gamayo led in the unveiling of her birth centennial logo together with special guests (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Gamayo and the weavers of Lumbaan-Bicbica (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Students of textile weaving with Gamayo (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Ilagan City Iconifies Corn Farming and Celebrates Local Culture in Mammangi Festival 2024

Ilagan City is proclaimed Corn Capital of the Philippines (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Poblacion Cluster 2 emerged as the overall champion of the Mammangi Festival Street Dance and Showdown Competition (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Fireworks lit up the sky capping the Mammangi Festival Street Dance and Showdown program (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Stationed at a small park along a main highway, the giant replica of the butaka has become familiar to residents and travelers in the northeastern part of Luzon Island, making the hefty Spanish-era chair with long arms and a slating back, said to be used for resting and birthing, a cultural icon of Ilagan City. But as you go around the capital of the sprawling province of Isabela, especially around the city proper, the details of public structures depict the images of the corn, the city’s top crop. 

            Ilagan has been trumpeting its being the Corn Capital of the Philippines, as proclaimed by the Department of Agriculture on August 11, 2015, on the third anniversary of its cityhood. 

            The Spaniards introduced corn into the Philippines from Mexico, where it is native, via the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. It was cultivated in Cebu in 1700s, according to earliest records, and then its farming spread throughout the country, becoming an important crop, second to rice.  Ilagan City presently is the leading corn producer in the Cagayan Valley region and one of the major producers in the country. The fourth largest city in the country 17,568 hectares of its land dedicated to farming corn, yielding an annual harvest of 168,774 metric tons and contributing 2.17 percent to the national corn production. Most of the harvest are used in making animal feeds and cooking ingredients such as starch, syrup and oil.

            Thus, in conceptualizing a festival, corn farming immediately came up as inspiration. In 2011, an ordinance was passed declaring the Mammangi Festival as the city’s official festival with the support of Ilagan mayor Josemarie L. Diaz. The name came from the Ibanag, one of the languages in the city, which refers to the cultivation of the corn as well as to the corn farmers, which number to 12,708, who the annual event is said to honor. The festival is scheduled for the first week of May to also celebrate the anniversary of the city’s founding on May 4, 1686.

            The Mammangi Festival, like other recently created festivals in the country, primarily aims to promote the city as well as be an avenue for celebration with a lineup of different events from competitions to shows. It is also designed to be a touristic draw and a showcase of local culture as well as tourist attractions. 

            Over the years, the Mammangi Festival has developed to become one of Isabela’s biggest events, second only to the provincewide Bambanti Festival in January. From 2020 to 2022, the festival was not held because of the coronavirus pandemic and made a return in 2023 but was held in August due to super typhoon Mawar.

            This 2024, the festival, held from May 5 to 10, continued its comeback on a bigger scale with the theme “Liveable City of Ilagan 2030: Isinasapuso Ng Bawat Ilagueño.” Beginning with the 338th Aggaw na Ilagan and a thanksgiving mass, the festival slate was filled with Tienda Ilagan Agri-Ecotourism and Food Fair, Cultural Olympics, Binibining Ilagan Grand Coronation Night, Barangay Night, Gawad Ilagueño awarding ceremony, Off-Road Challenge, the Street Dance and Showdown Competitions and the Mammangi Grand Concert.

 

Tienda Ilagan Agri-Ecotourism and Food Fair 

The Tienda Ilagan Agri-Ecotourism and Food Fair, inaugurated on May 4 and open throughout the festival, was one of the most visited features of the festival with booths of different barangays, government agencies and businesses. Attractively constructed to reflect local cultures, functions and aspirations, the booths offered local products. 

            In the booth competition, the Western 1 booth was declared champion in Category A (barangay clusters), with Poblacion 2 as second runner-up and San Antonio 1 as first runner-up, while in Category B (agencies), the champion was the Isabela Electric Cooperative II booth with Department of Agriculture as second runner-up and Sagittarian first runner-up.

People flocked to the nighly banchetto on one of Ilagan_s main streets, near the  Agro-Eco Tourism Booths (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

 

The Mammangi Festival Agro-Eco Tourism Booths also came alive at night with lightings (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Cultural Olympics

The Cultural Olympics, whose pre-finals were held on May 5 at City of Ilagan Community Center, consisted of competitions in singing, photography, sculpture and painting for residents. On 9 May, the winners were revealed. 

In painting, Jorome Tarun of Bliss Village emerged as champion while Joey Gibs Eusebio of Namnama was first runner-up and Maureen Lozada of Naguilian Sur second runner-up. In photography, Veronica Versoza of Santa Barbara was declared winner, while  John Christopher Navarro of Allinguigan was first runner-up, and Lucky Danielle dela Rosa of Bagumbayan second runner-up. Alexander Juan of Alibagu was proclaimed champion in the solo singing contest.

 

Binibining Ilagan 2024

            Beauty pageants have been a fixture in Philippine festivities. The grand coronation night of Binibining Ilagan 2024 was held on May 6 at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex, where 20 candidates vied for the crown. Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo and model Than Perez served as hosts with actor Alden Richards making an appearance as guest artist.

            Johnlene Ariola from the barangay of Alibagu won the Binibining Ilagan 2024 title. Binibining Ilagan 2023 Kristine Joy Guzman, who recently won Queen Isabela 2024, passed on the crown to the Financial Management graduate of Isabela State University Cauayan.

            Meanwhile, Clare Arce, also from Alibagu, was declared Binibining Ilagan Turismo, Sining at Kultura and Lalaine Bulan from the barangay of Bangag, Binibining Ilagan Agrikultura. Completing the court are first runner-up Justine Molly Asis from the barangay of Alinguigan and second runner-up Valerie Ann May delos Santos from the barangay of Sindon Bayabo.

 

Barangay Night

            Officials of Ilagan’s different barangays and guests gathered together for a night of celebration and recognitions on May 7 at the City of Ilagan Community Center. 

Winners of the Most Outstanding and Improved Barangays Awards were unveiled. They were Lullutan for disaster preparedness, Osmena for financial management, Bliss Village for environmental management and sanitation, Calamangui 1st for sustainable education, Cabisera 3 for social protection, Santa Isabel Sur for youth development, Alinguigan 2nd for health compliance and responsiveness, Cabisera 10 for tourism development, Baligatan for business friendliness and competitiveness, and Alibagu for safety, peace and order.

            The event also included the Inter-Cluster Cultural Dance Contest and entertainment featuring comedians Allan K and Wally Bayona.

 

Street Dance and Showdown Competitions

            The street dancing contest and showdown are always the exhilarating highlight of almost all modern festivals in the Philippines and this is true for Mammangi Festival. Officials, participants, supporters, spectators and visitors converged at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex on May 9 to be enthralled by costumes and movements of the eight contingents composed of clusters of barangays—Poblacion 1, Poblacion 2, Western 1, Western 2, Northeastern 1, Northeastern 2, San Antonio 1, and San Antonio 2.

            Participants, all young students, donned their colorful costumes inspired by traditional countryside attire and corn, and performed dances exulting corn farming and farmers as well as elements of local culture. 

In the street dance category, Poblacion 2 was hailed as champion, while San Antonio 2 was declared first runner-up, Western 1 second runner-up and Poblacion 1 third runner-up. In the showdown category, Poblacion 2 again bagged the championship. Other winners were Poblacion 1 (first runner-up), San Antonio 2 (second runner-up), and San Antonio 1 (third runner-up).

After revealing the dance winners, organizers also revealed the overall winners, based on their cumulative achievements in different festival competitions. The cluster of Poblacion 2 reigned supreme. They were followed by San Antonio 2 and Western 2 as first runners-up, and Western 1 as second runner-up.

            The program was capped with a grand firework display, an apt representation of the joy of victory as well as the successful holding of the festival.

 

Gawad Ilagueño and Grand Concert

            The last night of the Mammangi Festival was reserved for recognizing outstanding Ilagueños in different fields, 

The 2024 awardees are Jojo M. Ramos in the field of education; chief of police Lord Wilson J. Adorio in the field of peace and order; Department of Information And Communications Technology undersecretary Heherson M. Asiddao in the field of public administration and governance; basketball player Ricci Paolo U. Rivero in the field of sports; Perine V. Agraviador for the youth sector; Evelyn C. Diaz for the women’s sector; Dr. Victor Jesus D. Villaroman in the field of business administration and entrepreneurship; and Dr. Herbee M. Barrios in the professional field.

Special citations were also bestowed to Nida D. Aranda in the field of education; Mark B. Agcaoili in the field of music, arts and culture; Ilagan Fil-Chinese Volunteers in the field of peace and order; and nurses Steve M. Esteban and Xyza Aura M. Malloch in the professional field.

            The night  was capped by a concert featuring December Avenue, ending the festival with music, lights and anticipation for the next festival.

Corn plants being cultivated in the vast fields of Ilagan (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Steamed corn being sold by the roadside (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

A lively performance of Western Cluster 1 contingent (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The Northeastern Cluster 1 contigent performed during the Mammangi Festival Street Dance and Showdown (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The Northeastern Cluster 2 contingent showed their mettle in street dancing  (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Crowd lit up their mobile phones during the finale concert featuring December Avenue (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

National Museum Releases Merch Celebrating 140th Anniversary of ‘Spoliarium’

The limited-edition Spoliarium 140 Beep Cards (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

    

The National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) has just unveiled an array of commemorative and souvenir items in celebration of the 140th anniversary of the creation of arguably the most famous painting in the Philippines, Juan Luna's Spoliarium, as well as its winning the gold medal at Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in 1884.

    An initiative of the National Museum Employees' Multi-Purpose Cooperative (NMEMPC), the merch are sold in a pop-up store, which runs for a month and is housed at the President Sergio Osmeña Function Hall of the National Museum of Fine Arts, just behind the iconic painting.

Inaugurated on May 20, 2024, the NMEMPC Mobile Museum Shop offers t-shirts, tote bags, wristlets, candies, wristlets, ref magnets, keychains, button pins, gift bags, gift boxes, candies, bull caps, postcards, jigsaw puzzles, art prints, coasters, mugs, mouse pads, sticker packs, foldable round fans, and commemorative medals. There is even a plushie in Juan Luna cartoon. More expensive items include Wagas ukelele, gold and leather watch, and flask and cutlery set. But the most popular item is the limited-edition commemorative Beep Card, the smart card that is used for payment in Metro Manila’s rapid transit system, some buses and even several stores.

Only 1,500 Spoliarium CXL Beed Cards were produced and were completely sold-out on third day of opening. The NMEMPC is planning to produce another batch. The card is produced in partnership with AF Payments, Inc., which started the Beep Card in 2015. 

            During the store’s opening, Sharon Fong, chief commercial officer of AF Payments, Inc., reminisced her encounter with Spoliarium as a Humanities student and highlighted the advantages of using the cards, particularly in commuting to the museum. 

            On the other hand, NMP director-general Jeremy Barns said that the occasion is an opportunity for to take another look at the painting and what it means to the Filipino people.

Presently part of the NMP collection, Spoliarium, an oil-on-canvas work that is monumental measuring 425 by 775 centimeters, depicts two dead or dying gladiators being dragged to the Spoliarium, the basement of the Roman Colosseum, after a fight in imperial Rome. Around them are rowdy spectators as well as grieving and indignant characters. 

The painting won a gold medal out of three at the Exposic ion General de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain, in 1884. Dr. Jose Rizal commented that the scene is an allusion of Spain’s colonization and cruelty on the Philippines.

            The flipside of the Beep Card shows the Bust of Juan Luna y Novicio by Spanish sculptor and medalist Mariano Benlliure, which has been tought to be lost. The bust is one of the most recent acquisition of NMP. It was turned over to the museum on October 10, 2023, by the MIB Capital Corporation 

            According to NMP,  ‘[a] century ago, the bust was gifted to the Philippine Government on 12 October 1922, and was part of the National Museum Collection as documented in the 1938 Catalog of Paintings, Sculptures, and Historical Objects by the National Library. Unfortunately, the bust, along with other priceless artifacts and artworks, was lost to the intense shelling of the Old Legislative Building which served as a temporary repository for such items during World War II. The whereabouts of the bust remained a mystery until [2023] when it appeared in an auction lot from the Salcedo Auctions’ ‘The Well Appointed Life’ last September.”

The bust is currently on public view near the Spoliarium. 

            This is second time that NMEMPC initiated a limited-edition Beep Card. In October 2023, they released cards in four colors and designs featuring NMP’s four museums and icons of their collections, which proved to be very popular.

According to NMEMPC Board of Directors chairperson Alvin Anthony Claveria, the special Beep Card and other merch d not only celebrated Spoliarium but they are also a way of enticing more people to visit the museums as well as a way for the coop to raise funds. 

Juan Luna's 'Spoliarium'  is one of the highlights of the National Museum of Fine Arts (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

NMEMPC directors Nelson Aquino, Carol Magdaleno and Hannah Bordalo with NMEMPC BOD chairperson Alvin Anthony Claveria, NMP deputy director-general Ma. Rosenne Flores-Avila,  AF Payments COO Sharon Fong, NMP director-general Jeremy Barns and NMEMPC BOD vice chairperson Ferdinand Peralta.

Commemmorative candies (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Commeorative mugs (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Stickers

T-shirts (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

The pop-up store at the President Sergio Osmena Function Hall (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)

Tote bags (Photo by Roel Hoang Manipon)