Pride across the metro

When June arrived, the start of the wet season in the Philippine, so did the habagat or southwest monsoon bringing with somber skies and rains to Metro Manila, which is already drab in many parts. But the month brought splashes of rainbow colors as LGBTIQ+ Pride Month was also celebrated, and more institutions, agencies, companies, local governments, communities and organizations joined in this year’s celebration, some of them bedecking buildings, other structures and everyday spaces with Pride flags and rainbow colored lights and decorations. These decorations — from light show on the façade of the iconic Cultural Center of the Philippines to glittery buntings in a barangay in Pasig City — were meant to be powerful visual statements of support for and solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community, reflecting a cultural shift and hopefully increasing acceptance and recognition of diversity and inclusion.

The biggest Pride decoration effort was the rainbow lighting on the façade and back of the 50-story, high-rise office building, Mega Tower, which is one of the tallest structures in Metro Manila. Located beside SM Megamall, along EDSA in Mandaluyong City, and notable for its curvilinear structural design, it lorded over the Ortigas Center-Crossing area.

Beside the Mega Tower is SM Megamall, once the largest mall in the Philippines, which mounted the Pride Love installation by the entrance. Colorful and eye-catching, it served as an amusing backdrop for Instagrammable photos.

Other SM malls were lit with rainbow lights such as SM City Taytay in Taytay, Rizal, on the outskirts of Metro Manila, and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, “because everyone deserves to be seen, heard and embraced,” they posted on their Facebook page.

“Mall of Asia is a safe, inclusive space where diversity is not just welcomed, but celebrated,” they emphasized.

SM Supermalls actually had lineup different Pride events at several

of its malls.

On the other hand, Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City installed a bow-shaped rainbow pathway at its garden and a large LED screen flashed the Pride flag as well as statements such as “What if the next generation never felt the need to come out?” and “You make this world a more beautiful place.”

Quezon City had the most visible of Pride trappings among local government units in Metro Manila. But more than these, it is also the most progressive in terms LGBTIQ+ inclusion and respect for the sector’s human rights, led by its mayor, Joy Belmonte. The past few years, the city has hosted and co-organized the country’s Pride March, Love Laban: Pride PH Festival, which became the biggest Pride event in Southeast Asia.

During the 2025 Pride Month, the façade of Quezon City Hall’s high-rise building scintillated with rainbow-colored lights.

Just across the city hall, the Quezon Memorial Circle, which is dedicated to memorialize the second Philippine President, Manuel L. Quezon, has hosted Pride PH Festival from 2022 to 2024. Though not a venue for this year’s festival, it still sported Pride decorations — its pathways covered with floating, multi-colored umbrellas and the pylons of the Quezon Memorial Shrine bathed in lights of changing colors. They are the first historical landmark and national park in the country to engage in

Pride events.

Another historical site, Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila, participated in the celebration for the first time. Pride flags were displayed prominently at its gate.

“We stand in celebration and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, honoring love, identity, and the freedom to be yourself,” the Intramuros Administration, which manages the tourist attraction, wrote on its Facebook page.

After the Supreme Court of the Philippines joined Pride celebration a couple of years ago, another high branch of national government displayed Pride colors. The Senate of the Philippines, led by its Gender and Development Focal Point, lit its building in Pasay City in rainbow colors.

“The institution reaffirms its recognition of the diverse sectors that make up our society, including the LGBTQIA+ community,” it said in its Facebook post.

Ironically, the SOGIESC Equality Bill, which aims to protect persons from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and sex characteristics, has not been passed after more than two decades.

Cultural agencies of the national government have also expressed support during Pride Month. Notably, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) beamed with rainbow-colored lights, saying it “is one with the LGBTQIA+ community” in its Facebook post on 16 June.

“For the rest of June, we are lighting up the façade of the National Museum of Fine Arts into a vibrant rainbow, and flying pride and progress flags across all our museums as part of our display of allyship and support!” they announced.

“We at the NMP remain steadfast in making our spaces safe, open, and inclusive,” they emphasized.

For several years now, NMP has been displaying its support for and solidarity with the LGBTIQ+ community, and holding special programs for Pride Month.

Likewise, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) also lit its main building in rainbow colors, which also became a canvas for GOBO projections of patterns resembling human fingerprints, designed by its Production Design and Technical Services Division.

“The fingerprint motif is both intimate and powerful. It symbolizes identity, authenticity, and visibility, central themes in the ongoing conversation about gender equality and inclusion. With this installation, we aim not only to celebrate Pride Month, but to remind all Filipinos that diversity is strength, and that every person has the right to be seen, heard, and respected,” said CCP artistic director Dennis N. Marasigan, who also chairs the CCP Gender and Development Committee.

Even in smaller communities around the metro made effort to decorate for Pride. The small Barangay Sumilang Park, which sits along the Pasig River, in Pasig City became festive, festooned with rainbow ribbons and flaglets, its gate adorned with a rainbow arch.

While there is now new rainbow crosswalks like in previous years, the stairs of a pedestrian footbridge at the intersection of EDSA Extension and Roxas Boulevard were painted in rainbow colors.

Also, the LED billboard, the biggest in the country, on GA Tower 1, regularly showed a Pride Progress flag over the busy traffic along EDSA in Mandaluyong City.

These decorations, though, may be results of performative allyship, riding the bandwagon, inconsistent action, and tokenist gestures that do not really translate to real change for the LGBTIQ+ community, and should be considered in a critical manner.

But they should also be appreciated, considering that about 10 years ago, none dared to express support for the sector for fear of ridicule or rebuke. These displays indicate how perceptions have changed in recent years, and contribute to visibility and awareness as well as historical and cultural acknowledgment of the LGBTIQ+ community. As these displays dramatically transform spaces, may they also transform hearts.