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Amadeus Fernando Pagente, whose drag name is Pura Luka Vega, performs at a bar in Taguig, Metro Manila on December 22, 2023. Jam Sta. Rosa, AFP

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Pura Luka Vega

Josiah Eleazar Antonio

ABS-CBN News

<div> </div><div> <span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/pura.png" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Amadeus Fernando Pagente, whose drag name is Pura Luka Vega, performs at a bar in Taguig, Metro Manila on December 22, 2023. Jam Sta. Rosa, AFP "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Amadeus Fernando Pagente, whose drag name is Pura Luka Vega, performs at a bar in Taguig, Metro Manila on December 22, 2023. <em>Jam Sta. Rosa, AFP</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — Embattled drag artist Pura Luka Vega said they would &quot;keep fighting&quot; after their second arrest for their viral &quot;Ama Namin&quot; performance. </p><p>&quot;Medyo may natutunan tayo from the first one [arrest] na na-apply ko na for the second one,&quot; Pura told reporters in an interview.</p><p>&quot;We were born resilient. We have gone to probably much worse para sa &#x27;kin laban lang,&quot; they added.</p><p>Pura was arrested for a second time in late February for <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">“immoral doctrines, obscene publications and exhibitions and indecent shows”, by virtue of a warrant issued in Quezon City. </span>Pura was earlier arrested for the same charges in October 2023.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/07/23/drag-artist-pura-luka-vega-released-on-bail-police">Drag artist Pura Luka Vega released on bail: police</a></div><p>&quot;We were able to anticipate the warrant in Pasay City. We paid for the bail for that one that we didn&#x27;t get the resolution was in QC, that&#x27;s why I had a warrant, I didn&#x27;t know that I&#x27;ll have a warrant. We followed naman. I had no intention of running away naman from the police anyway,&quot; Pura said.</p><p>In the face of upcoming court hearings, the drag artist said, &quot;I&#x27;m good. I can really just count my blessings and I&#x27;ll be fine. There&#x27;s a lot of things to be grateful for.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I stand firm to my beliefs that I did not do anything wrong. This is purely my expression of my queerness and my faith and there&#x27;s nothing wrong with that,&quot; Pura said of the Ama Namin performance that made them a persona non grata in several areas. </p><p>&quot;I hope people would get to see it the way queer people see, drag is never a crime. It&#x27;s really just an expression and it&#x27;s a beautiful art form,&quot; they added.</p><p>Pura added that they still believe in the &quot;Divine Being&quot;, who is on the side of the oppressed.</p><p>&quot;Apart from my family and my friends, hindi naman nag-waver ang paniniwala ko sa Divine Being. It&#x27;s weird but I think God has always been on our side, the side of the oppressed and the side of the LGBTQIA+ community and that&#x27;s what matters. Thank you, Lord,&quot; they said.</p><p>Pura said that their case is &quot;<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">like a litmus test&quot; </span>of Philippines&#x27; acceptance of the LGBT community. </p><p>&quot;Are we really that accepted here? We claim to be a LGBT-friendly country and yet we don&#x27;t know if we have the rights that we deserve,&quot; Pura said.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;ve been deprived of a lot of things, you know it&#x27;s interesting. You get to see where we are at exactly,&quot; they added.</p><p>Pura thanked their supporters, saying: &quot;This has been a trying time for everyone. Just as long as within your heart, just be courageous and live your life to the fullest.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Don&#x27;t think about what other people prescribed you to be. Just be who you are and you are loved exactly the way you are, you are born that way.&quot;</p><div> </div>

<p>Embattled drag artist Pura Luka Vega is still resilient following their second arrest for their "Ama Namin" performance. </p>

Embattled drag artist Pura Luka Vega is still resilient following their second arrest for their "Ama Namin" performance.

'God is on our side,' says Pura Luka Vega after second arrest

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'God is on our side,' says Pura Luka Vega after second arrest

Josiah Eleazar Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Mar 08, 2024 03:29 PM PHT

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