Alexandra Schulze

The opening of the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair with the Philippines as Guest of Honour

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The opening of the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair with the Philippines as Guest of Honour 

ABS-CBN Lifestyle

<p>The Philippine delegation was in full force on October 14 at the opening of the 77th Frankfurt Book Fair, with moving performances by the country&#x27;s top cultural acts and a powerful speech by Senator Loren Legarda—who fought long and hard to secure this year&#x27;s Guest of Honour spot.</p><p>The Messe Frankfurt, the fair&#x27;s host venue since 1951, didn&#x27;t see the usual bustle of all the different halls and floors the day before the event officially kicked off. Last night, the building was reserved solely for those who got invited to the Frankfurt Buchmesse Opening, which included German fair officials including the city&#x27;s mayor, local and international press, and a happy mix of Philippine government officials who helped make this milestone happen as well as a plethora of creative delegates who are all set for a jam-packed itinerary of talks, panel discussions, exhibits, performances, demos and much more.  </p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760486779739IMG_2521.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The calm before the storm: the Congress Center reception area before the arrival of guests from the Buchmesse team, the international press, and the Philippine delegation. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><p>The Congress Center within the giant complex was full to the brim when the event started promptly at 7pm, with a haunting welcome number by chanter Rosie Sula and the Philippine Madrigal Singers. What followed was a seamless weaving of speeches between the German Buchmesse executives—most notably speaking on digital colonialism vs the ethos of authorship and whether or not algorithms should decide what humans think—and inspired readings by formidable Philippine women poets Merlie M. Alunan, Marjorie Evasco, and Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta.</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760487028423IMG_2561.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"/><span class="fr-inner">Three women poets spanning different generations and sensibilities: Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta, Merlie M. Alunan, and Marjorie Evasco. Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</span></span></span></div><p> The speech that garnered the most applause was that of Senator Loren Legarda, who highlighted the epoch of National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal—the revolutionary who did not fight with a gun, but with a pen—in Germany, and how the country was instrumental in the birth of his most revered work<em></em>:<em></em></p><p><em></em>&quot;<em></em>A poem to flowers in Germany became a letter to his homeland. From that longing emerged a book. Rizal completed the final chapters of <em>Noli Me Tangere</em>...Touch me Not—the novel that held a mirror to colonial society and revealed the deep wounds of oppression—in a humble Protestant vicarage in Wilhelmsfeld, 20 minutes away from Heidelberg. The following year, in 1887, it was published by the [sic] in Berlin..with women&#x27;s hands setting in to type the very sentences that make powerful men tremble.&quot;</p><p>Senator Legarda went on to tie in the beauty of the Philippines Islands and the amazing talent the country has produced with the GoH theme &quot;The Imagination Peoples the Air&quot;:</p><p>Tonight, I stand before you as a daughter of an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands scattered across the sea like pearls. Geography that others call &quot;fragmented&quot;, we call &quot;infinite&#x27;. Imagination is the vessel that inspires our people of many talents and many spirits across mountains and seas. A nation freed because a son set out to heal his mother&#x27;s eyes became the writer who illuminated his people. Is this not almost as if history itself prepared for this moment. Because 10 years ago, in 2015, I first imagined the Philippines as the Guest of Honour of the Frankfurter Buchmesse knowing what I&#x27;ve always believed: that Filipino voices belong among the world&#x27;s greatest literature.&quot;</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760486518059image5.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Senator Loren Legarda gave an impassioned speech that inspired the guests at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025 Opening. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze </em></span></span></span>After the closing performance of the Philippine Madrigal Singers with Song Weavers Philippines, guests were offered celebratory drinks right outside the auditorium before they made their way over to the Philippine Pavilion for a first look. People were entranced by the stunning space that will be housing majority of the GoH events, and were treated to even more musical numbers while sampling Filipino dishes like Adobo, BBQ skewers, and Tokwa&#x27;t Baboy...all with a bit of a twist.        </div><p>Here were some of the people in attendance:</p><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760487356035image4.jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">National Artist Virgilio Almario flanked by Pilipinos living in Frankfurt who volunteered to help make the country&#x27;s Guest of Honour tenure a rousing success. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760488279850IMG_2528.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Awesome foursome getting their selfie on: Jose &quot;Butch&quot; Dalisay Jr. and his wife Beng, Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta and Angelo Lacuesta. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze </em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760488492231IMG_2526.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">All smiles: Dr. Eric Babar Zerrudo, Executive Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760489031409IMG_2543.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Ready to talk food at the Frankfurt Book Fair: Chef Claude Tayag. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760489195951IMG_2595.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Team Summit! Myrza Sison, editor-at-large of Summit Media and Lio Mangubat, EIC of Summit Books. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em><br/></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760489362972IMG_2603.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Three&#x27;s Company! Film producer and writer Tanya Yuson, journalist and author Marga Ortigas, and Sam Marcelo of the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) and publishing house Exploding Galaxies. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760489588436IMG_2607.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Bonding before taking the stage: authors Miguel Syjuco and Zoë Beck. <em>Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1760489955583IMG_2623.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:738px"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Proudly Filipino: The Diarist PH&#x27;s assistant editor Alya Honasan.<em> Image courtesy of Lexi Schulze</em></span></span></span>If the excitement in the air of last night&#x27;s event was any indication of how the next several days will go for the Guest of Honour at this year&#x27;s Frankfurter Buchmesse, surely the Philippines will exceed the expectation of fair goers—and have them go away with more than a glimpse of what makes the country, its culture, and people some of the best in the world.</div><div><br/></div><p>RELATED ARTICLES</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2025/10/6/the-road-to-frankfurt-book-fair-2025-0929" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The road to Frankfurt Book Fair 2025</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/people-culture-events/2025/10/6/creative-space-a-day-in-the-life-of-journalist-and-author-marga-ortigas-0930" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Creative Space: A day in the life of journalist and author Marga Ortigas</a></div><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2025/9/5/-for-friday-10-am-ph-readies-biggest-showcase-yet-as-guest-of-honour-at-frankfurt-book-fair-1000" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PH readies biggest showcase yet as Guest of Honour at Frankfurt Book Fair</a></div>

<p>The Philippine delegation was in full force at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, with moving performances by the country's top cultural acts and a powerful speech by Senator Loren Legarda--who fought long and hard to secure this year's Guest of Honour spot. </p>

The Philippine delegation was in full force at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, with moving performances by the country's top cultural acts and a powerful speech by Senator Loren Legarda--who fought long and hard to secure this year's Guest of Honour spot.

The 77th Frankfurt Book Fair Opening with the Philippines as Guest of Honour

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The 77th Frankfurt Book Fair Opening with the Philippines as Guest of Honour

ABS-CBN Lifestyle,

Lexi Schulze

Published Oct 15, 2025 09:06 AM PHT

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Updated Oct 19, 2025 02:23 PM PHT

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