Framing performance as protest and visibility as resistance, Ateneo de Davao University’s (AdDU) PrideRise 2025 placed drag, art, and advocacy at the center of Pride Month, calling for genuine inclusion and the assertion of queer identity within the university and beyond.

Ateneo Libulan Circle President Sam Montejo underscored the deeper meaning of the University’s Pride Fest, saying that this year is about protest and a platform for self-expression and advocacy.

“This year’s Pride Fest, it’s a protest. Dili lang siya lingaw. Although lingaw-lingaw siya, it’s a way to express ourselves. It’s [also] a way na malabas nato ang gusto nato malabas, and maingon nato atong gusto maingon,” Montejo said.

The celebration featured a drag performance and lip-sync battle with participants from the Accountancy (ACC), Business and Management (BM), Humanities and Letters (HumLet), and Social Sciences (SS) Clusters.

AB Psychology student Thomas Quidlat, performing as “Mercury Drag” under the SS Cluster, was declared the winner, wherein he carried an arc signage with “Pass SOGIE Bill Now” written on it while lip-syncing Telephone by Lady Gaga.

Quidlat emphasized that his performance went beyond entertainment, highlighting the urgency of passing the SOGIE Equality Bill as a statement of solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Carrying the “Pass SOGIE Bill Now” sign was a very important part of my performance. I didn’t just want to entertain, I wanted to make a statement… I wanted to remind everyone that this is an urgent issue that still needs action. It was my way of standing with the LGBTQIA+ community and showing that the gays are not going anywhere,” Quidlat said.

The Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Equality Bill remains unpassed and in legislative limbo, despite being refiled and reintroduced in multiple Congresses over the past two decades with little to no progress toward its approval in the Senate.

Montejo also emphasized that art and drag performances serve as platforms for political expression.

“Drag is already an art wherein we can express ourselves. It is a protest, a testimony that we are visible when things are often erased,” she said.

PrideRise 2025 Executive Director Glamark Datuin echoed Montejo’s sentiment, emphasizing the political roots of the event and how it supports AdDU’s vision and mission to promote social justice.

“All of the activities here… all encompass AdDU’s mission and vision, which is to fight for social justice. And that social justice, we start with this year’s first event, Pride Month,” he added.

SAMAHAN President Hannah Aquino stressed that advocacy must go beyond symbolic events, highlighting SAMAHAN’s efforts to push for the implementation of the Davao City anti-discrimination ordinance.

“SAMAHAN is now working, lobbying for resolutions to urge the Davao City Local Government Unit to finally pass and implement the implementing rules and regulations or IRR of the anti-discrimination law in the city. We cannot let this policy stay in the paper. It must protect real people, it must protect you, it must protect us,” she asserted.

Davao City’s Anti-Discrimination Ordinance, or Ordinance No. 0417-12, which was passed in 2012 and amended in 2018 to protect individuals from discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, remains partially unenforced as its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) have yet to be fully implemented.

PrideRise: In-campus Pride Flag Hanging was organized by the SAMAHAN Department of Campaigns and Advocacies in partnership with Ateneo Libulan Circle (ALC) and Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy (APILA).

The event was held on Monday, June 16, 2025, at the Finster main entrance of Ateneo de Davao University.