Just as we were about to publish this story, it was reported that Pura Luka Vega has been arrested for offenses of immoral doctrines, obscene publications, and exhibition and indecent shows, in connection with their viral "Ama Namin" remix performance. Read the story here.
This interview and photo shoot were conducted last September 27 at the Gravity Art Space in Quezon City.
“This is where it all happened. It’s a magical place,” says Pura Luka Vega who is sitting across us this cool Wednesday morning. We are in Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City, inside an empty hall that was once upon a time a Japanese steakhouse. As the drag artist indulges on a takeout noodle dish they brought to the shoot, Pura gestures to direct our attention to what looks like a stage — the spot where, in June this year, during a Pride party, they famously performed the punk rock version of the Catholic hymn “Ama Namin” while wearing a Jesus of Nazarene costume.
It’s been three months since the name Pura Luka Vega broke into the national consciousness, after a video they posted of the above mentioned performance went viral and attracted the attention of senators and religious groups including the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The performance has been called blasphemous and disrespectful to the Catholic faith.
As of last count, Pura has been declared persona non grata in 17 areas in the country including Cebu City, Manila, and Marikina. Pura is also facing criminal charges initiated by the Philippines for Jesus Movement, a coalition of Christian groups, and the Hijos Del Nazareno Central, composed of Nazareno devotees, has filed a complaint against Pura at the Manila Regional Trial Court.
Despite all these, the bearded drag artist in front of us looks very much — to use a now internet-popular description attached to targets of online criticism — “unbothered.” Pura is scheduled to appear in a hearing at the NBI after our interview and yet they are every inch the picture of calm, as if we’re going to be leisurely chatting from now through lunch and proceeding to high tea after.
“I feel okay,” says the former "Drag Den Philippines" contestant. “A little unreal,” they mutter nonchalantly, referring to the attention they’ve gotten of late.
![“[Drag] is kind of a release of all these emotions that you have and you translate it to this performance. It’s kind of healing in a way,” Pura says.](https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/10/05/2.jpg)
To hear Pura say it, the attention has gotten a little hysterical, considering they’re not a movie star or society figure. Pura’s little performance in this improvised bar in Quezon City has gotten their name mentioned by senators from Senate President Miguel Zubiri to Risa Hontiveros. Zubiri condemned the “extremely blasphemous and offensive video,” which according to him made “a mockery of the Christian faith and disrespecting The Lord’s Prayer.”
Hontiveros, meanwhile, found the performance “regrettable” but warned critics against using it to attack the LGBT community which has long been marginalized and excluded.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, son of Christian evangelist and Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide founder Eddie Villanueva, said Pura’s performance was “unacceptable and preposterous.” He added: “Hindi po kailanman dapat i-tolerate o pahintulutan ang pambabastos at paglapastangang ito sa ating Panginoon. Hindi maituturing na ‘art’ ang gawing katatawanan ang Salita ng Diyos.”
Pura says the attention thrown their way in the beginning wasn’t at all surprising. “When it was already blowing up on social media, I didn’t really mind because I’ve had a viral performance before. If it goes viral, then so be it.”
But now Pura feels things have gone overboard. “As a queer person, even before naman talaga, you get a bit of mga passive aggressive attitude towards you anyway. I’m not that surprised, but it's kind of ridiculous din to have all this attention. I have 17 persona non gratas in total. It’s quite a record.”
Letters from their father
Before all this, Pura Luka Vega was the occasional drag performer slash government employee. They were initially hired as a researcher at the Department of Health, then eventually an opportunity opened to take on a role as a technical expert within the agency’s Mental Health Program. Pura’s current responsibilities primarily involve reviewing policies and programs and overseeing the implementation of RA 11036 or the Mental Health Act.
Pura was born Amadeus Fernando Pagente, the child of a British father and a Filipina mother. They hail from Dipolog City, a province of Zamboanga del Norte, where they spent their formative years. Pura was born out of wedlock and only got to know their dad through the letters he sent Pura’s mother between the years 1987 to 1993. Pura only got to read and compile the “very detailed” letters when they were in their college years.
“[My father] wrote constantly to my mom, sometimes twice or thrice a month. So even if I didn’t know him personally, I knew how he felt about my mom,” the half-Brit, half-Filipino Pura shares. “He was the one who named me Amadeus. He thought of the name Amadeus Fernando in case my mom gives birth to twins. If I turn out to be a female, it would be Eva Rosemary, from Ave Maria.” The Briton would visit the Philippines once a year so there are photos of the father carrying baby Amadeus.
But the letters stopped coming. Pura’s father and mother eventually lost touch. Pura learned that their father had suffered from dementia, which was exacerbated by an accident. Later on, Pura found out from their half-brother that he had passed on.
A rosary-praying kid
It might surprise some to know that Pura was raised by a devout Catholic mother. The young Amadeus would go to church every day and pray the rosary religiously. “Part of the reason why I can’t separate myself from being Catholic is because my mom is passionate about the Catholic faith. I love my mom so much. So being invested in her interests is a way for me to understand her,” says Pura.
It was in high school when Pura became aware they were different. “But there was no label for it back then,” they recall. Since they didn’t have any strong attraction towards any of the sexes, Pura just lived a pretty normal teenage life.
From Dipolog City, Pura relocated to Manila to pursue a college education at Philippine Normal University, through a DOST-SEI (Science Education Institute) scholarship grant. This was the time they discovered their own person more and admits now that the process was not easy. “People would make fun of me and tease me na, ‘Uy huwag kang babakla-bakla.’”
“I felt down while I was discovering who I was kasi feeling ko, if this is me, what life could I look forward to? I always think of what the future holds for a queer person. At that time, there were not a lot of role models that I can look up to. I always thought, ‘Ano yun? Paano ako magiging masaya?’”
The understanding and acceptance from their mother provided the comfort Pura needed. “I was actually surprised with how she reacted. She saw nothing wrong [with me being queer]. When Pura expressed their concerns about the uncertainty of their future — “Ma, you don't understand. What does the future hold for me?” — their mother's reassuring response was: “You will find your way.”
Drawn to Nectar
After finishing her undergraduate course in Education and teaching for four years in her hometown, Pura decided to go back to Manila to take up a Masters in Physics via a scholarship offered by De La Salle University’s (DLSU) Master of Health Social Science. Being the family breadwinner, Pura also worked as managing editor for the Journal for Education Research at Philippine Normal University, while taking up a post-graduate degree. Her time in DLSU paved the way for her work at the Department of Health.
It was during Pura’s college years when their fascination for doing drag began. The journey into this gender-bending art form initially started with doing female impersonations and reading children’s books to kids. They also ventured into cosplays and participated in Halloween contests. When a female cosplayer in one event dressed up as Joker and won in the male category, it sparked an idea. The following year, Pura joined a contest as Marie Antoinette with a severed head. “That marked my debut in the world of drag — and I won the contest that year.”
Where did the name Pura Luka Vega come from? “Pura Luka Vega is a representation of my past, my present, and my future,” they told Mega Drag in December last year.
“The name ‘Pura’ was an alias my friends gave me when they were mocking my femininity. Coincidentally, it was also the name of the very first beauty queen of the Philippines, Pura Villanueva Kalaw. So, I decided to incorporate it later on. I usually go by the name, Luka. I just like the name. Siguro dahil when you repeat the name, it sounds like luka-luka, which is totoo naman. Medyo nakakabaliw kasi ang mundo at nababaliw na rin naman ako paminsan-minsan, so ituloy ko na, ‘di ba? Tapos there’s a song I liked named ‘Luka’ by Suzanne Vega. So, ayun… pinagtagpi-tagpi ko na para matapos na. Char!”
With more and more venues and events featuring drag acts, Pura’s journey in drag performances continued. She liked joining the BGC bar Nectar’s Drag Cartel, essentially a lip-sync competition where participants, in their fabulous drag personas, try to outshine each other. “I really enjoyed it to a point na I would sometimes go there even if I don't win. The sheer thrill of being there in drag was enough for me,” says Pura. “Sometimes I’d wear ridiculous things like a banana suit, or a bathrobe and a face mask.”
For Pura, drag is not only a means of self-expression but a way to momentarily escape the confines of her daily grind and bring her fantasies to life. One time they donned a wedding dress, with the legal restrictions on marriage for queers in the Philippines in mind. “So I imagined, if I were to have a wedding, what would my wedding dress look like?”
Pura rewore the wedding dress several times and when the drag artist broke up with their then-boyfriend, Pura wore it one last time with crimson paint splattered all over it. “It’s kind of a release of all these emotions that you have and you translate it to this performance. It’s kind of healing in a way,” Pura says.
To Pura, being a drag artist is both profession and vocation. “It's my bread and butter, but it’s also deeper than that. There is such a thing as art therapy. And if you use drag as a form of therapy, it can do wonders.”
After all that has happened to her these past months, has she changed her perception of drag? “No, not really. I'm very consistent with using drag as a way to tell a story. Whether it would be something that people would understand is not my concern anymore. I honor what I do as a performer, as a drag artist.”
‘I’m just tired’
We asked Pura where they get their strength amid being publicly crucified, online and by media, who keep updating its list of places where the drag artist has been declared persona non grata like it’s keeping a scoreboard.
“I’m just tired,” Pura answers. “I’m tired of the fact that queer people for the longest time don’t have the basic human rights that we’ve been fighting for through the SOGIE Bill.”
Clearly for Pura, it’s as much their fight as the fight of the queer community — for self-expression, for their protection, for their human rights. It just so happens Pura is the struggle’s face at the moment. But she sounds ready to take on anything.
“I wouldn't crumble because I’ve already been stomped on. My heart is already that broken anyway to begin with. So whatever have I got to lose? It was more of, ano pa ba ang ibabato nila sa akin na hindi pa nila naibabato? People say, ‘Ang tapang tapang mo.’ No, I'm just living in these really harsh conditions and I have gotten used to it. [What I’ve been going through right now] is just icing on the cake. I've been living through this for a really long time. It's not like this has happened just now.”
[Special thanks to Shahani Gania and Gravity Art Space (GAS) for accommodating ANCX. GAS is located at 1810 Mother Ignacia Ave, Diliman, Quezon City.]
Photography by Joseph Pascual