The year 2025 was marked by moments of celebration, reckoning, and transformation in Philippine culture and the arts, revealing both the vitality and the fragility of the country’s cultural life. The first part of this article, published on 6 January, surveyed these developments, featuring record-breaking rituals, milestone anniversary, institutional changes, cultural losses, and global engagements, from enduring ritual and the scale of Pasinaya to centenaries, museum openings, auction records, and major recognitions. Building on that overview, this second part turns to other notable developments, major events, and defining moments that also contributed to the enrichment of the nation’s cultural life.

Lost Conversations: retrieving and preserving interviews. On 7 March, art critic and cultural journalist Cid Reyes turned over original cassettes of interviews and conversations with several National Artists and leading figures of Philippine visual art to the National Museum of the Philippines for safeguarding. Long thought lost, this collection of audio interviews conducted over five decades were also restored, digitized and made publicly accessible through the ArticulatePH YouTube channel, marking a milestone in preserving oral histories and cultural documentation.

‘Una Bulaqueña’ at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Juna Luna’s Una Bulaqueña was loaned to the Louvre Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, marking the first direct collaboration between the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the National Museum of the Philippines. Declared a National Cultural Treasure in 2008, the 1895 painting was unveiled on 17 June 2025 and is on display until June 2026, the first time the painting is exhibited in the Middle East.

International wins for Filipino artists and performers. Several Filipino artists and performers shone on the global stage in 2025 in film, television, and music. At the Asian Academy Creative Awards, Dennis Trillo won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Green Bones, while Jodi Sta. Maria was named National Winner for Best Actress for Untold. The television series Saving Grace secured the Grand Final Winner award for Best Adaptation of an Existing Format (Scripted), further underscoring the strength of Filipino storytelling.

The year also saw Daniel Padilla awarded as Outstanding Asian Star at the Seoul International Drama Awards for his role in the series Incognito.

At the 2025 ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards, the Philippines secured the Best Cinematography (Some Nights I Feel Like Walking by Petersen Vargas), Best Screenplay (The Gospel of the Beast by Sheron Dayoc), and Best Supporting Actor (Ronnie Lazaro in The Gospel of the Beast). Additionally, filmmaker Lav Diaz was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

In music, P-pop groups Bini (International Female Group), BGYO (International Artist on the Rise), and HORI7ON (Song by New International Artist for “Cold”) earned international citations at Brazil’s BreakTudo Awards, while the band Lola Amour received the Special Award for Philippine Popular Music for the hit “Raining in Manila” at the first Music Awards Japan.

The Nueva Ecija Singing Ambassadors won two gold medals at the Taipei Chorale Competition in Taiwan, and young Filipino musicians topped in Music Theory, Piano, Violin and Ensemble categories at the Music Singapore International Competition.

Milestones by artists and performers of Filipino descent were achieved abroad: Filipino-American Jessica Sanchez won America’s Got Talent Season 20; Filipino-American Ruby Ibarra won the 2025 NPR Tiny Desk Contest for her song “Bakunawa”; and Filipino-Austrian singer JJ (Johannes Pietsch) claimed victory for Austria at the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, becoming the first Eurovision winner of Filipino and Southeast Asian descent.

Sale of ABS-CBN property. The Philippines witnessed the symbolic end of an era with the sale of part of ABS-CBN’s historic Quezon City property, including the iconic Millennium Transmitter. Built in 1969, the tower — long a symbol of national broadcasting and public service — was officially switched off on 9 July 2025, marking a poignant moment for media workers and audiences alike. The sale to Ayala Land Inc. followed ABS-CBN’s continued financial strain after the non-renewal of its broadcast franchise in 2020 brought about by the authoritarian Duterte regime.

Twenty years of Virgin Labfest. In 2025, the Virgin Labfest (VLF), the Cultural Center of the Philippines’s annual Philippine theater festival of “untried, untested, and un-staged” one-act plays, marked 20 years of providing a platform for emerging Filipino playwrights, directors, and actors. It has become one of the most important theater festivals in the country and has produced a number of acclaimed theater practitioners.

Deaths. The year 2025 marked the passing of several artists and cultural icons whose contributions shaped Philippine culture across disciplines. Among those mourned were filmmaker Mike de Leon (28 August), fictionist Gregorio Brillantes (26 September), National Artist for cinema Nora Aunor (16 April), Kalinga traditional musician and dance and Manlilikha ng Bayan Alonso Saclag (29 November), chef and restaurateur Margarita Fores (11 February), writer Pablo Tariman (9 October), singer Pilita Corrales (12 April), actress Gloria Romero (25 January), fashion designer Larrie Silva (14 May), playwright Tony Perez (20 May), singer-songwriter Freddie Aguilar (27 May) and visual artists Antipas Delotavo (2 December) and Juvenal Sansó (25 March). Their deaths marked a profound loss to the nation’s artistic and cultural life.

PhotoGRAPH by Roel Hoang Manipon FOR DAILY TRIBUNEThe Philippines as Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The Philippine literary sector and publishing industry made history as the Philippines served as Guest of Honor at the world’s largest and oldest book trade event, the Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt Book Fair), in Germany which ran from 15 to 19 October. The participation sparked controversy as accusations of complicity in genocide due to the fair’s stance on Israel-Palestine conflict, leading to calls for a boycott by some authors and publishers. Others viewed it as opportunity to showcase Filipino creativity to the world as well as a platform to speak about Palestinian struggles and foster dialogue.

‘The Mangrove,’ the largest glass tube installation. The Mangrove, a monumental glass sculpture at Solaire Resort North in Quezon City, was completed and unveiled at Solaire Resort North in January 2025. Rising 88 feet within the resort’s grand lobby, the installation was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest glass tube installation on 31 July 2025. Designed by artist Nikolas Weinstein and composed of 16,385 glass tubes with stainless steel, cable, silicone, and acrylic, the installation draws inspiration from the geometry and resilience of mangrove ecosystems.

Centennial of Art Deco. In 2025, the world marked one hundred years of the Art Deco style, a design movement that shaped modern architecture, visual culture, and urban life. The Philippines — home to a number of surviving Art Deco heritage structures — joined the global commemoration through a series of lectures, an exhibition, the release of a calendar, and other initiatives.

‘Quezon’ premiered and sparked discussions. The movie Quezon, directed by Jerrold Tarog, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Rodolfo Vera, premiered in Philippine cinemas on 15 October 2025 sparking debates and discussions revolving around artistic freedom versus historical integrity, the public image of historical figures, and the perceived responsibilities of artists and creators to living descendants.

Quezon City and Dumaguete as UNESCO Creative Cities. Quezon City was designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Film and Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental as UNESCO Creative City of Literature on 31 October 2025. They are the fifth and sixth Philippine cities to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, a global community of cities that aims to foster collaboration and create sustainable and inclusive urban development strategies driven by creativity, after Baguio City (Crafts and Folk Art, designated in 2017), Cebu City (Design, designated in 2019) and Iloilo City (Gastronomy, designated in 2023).

Fifty years of Galleria Duemila. Galleria Duemila marked its fiftieth anniversary on 5 December 2025, affirming its place as the longest-running art gallery in the Philippines. Founded in 1975 by Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz, an Italian who married a Filipino and made the Philippines her home, Galleria Duemila has, over five decades, played a role in the promotion of Philippine modern art, providing a vital platform for Filipino artists and helping shape the country’s contemporary art landscape.

The practice of making asin tibuok in UNESCO ICH list. The practice of making asin tibuok, the artisanal sea salt of Bohol Island, was inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding on 9 December 2025, marking a milestone as the first Philippine traditional food process to be included in a UNESCO ICH list, and the seventh Philippine practice across the three UNESCO ICH lists.