Pura Luka Vega (Photo from Vega's Instagram account)
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – Drag queen Pura Luka Vega is no longer welcome in this province.
Provincial board member Roland Ruga on Wednesday told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an email that the body has voted to declare Vega, whose real name is Amadeus Fernando Pagente, persona non grata.
He said the resolution was passed during the 53rd session of the 11th Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) on Tuesday.
The measure was filed before the SP on Aug. 24 by Calapan City Councilor Rhona Leachon, who sits on the board as president of the League of Councilors.
Ruga said the provincial board also received a letter from Governor Humerlito Dolor requesting that Vega be declared unwelcome in Oriental Mindoro in consideration of his stage performance at a bar that many Catholics found extremely offensive.
“On July 10, drag artist Pura Luka Vega uploaded videos exhibiting a performance of the Lord’s Prayer in an attire portraying the Black Nazarene. His posts enraged the public, with some even describing it as sacrilegious, blasphemy, and disrespectful,” said Dolor in his letter to the board.
“As public officials, it is our responsibility to promote sensible and prudent expression of art in Oriental Mindoro. We must dissuade artistic expressions offensive to social, religious, and cultural values. It is also our duty to uphold the respect and dignity accorded to religious beliefs and traditions,” he added.
To date, the drag queen has been declared persona non grata in 15 provinces and the capital city of Manila. (PNA)
