Drag royalty Manila Luzon admitted on Tuesday, November 23, that he had to wait for a long time before bringing the world of drag to the Philippines.
In a virtual media roundtable, Manila hoped to introduce drag queens to the country back in 2010 or 2011 but realized that it was relatively foreign for a conservative country like the Philippines.
“I had to wait because it wasn’t as popular at that time. It wasn’t cost-effective to fly me out here, and there wasn’t going to be enough people to be interested in seeing what I do, you know, to fly me out here and pay my fees. So it was a dream,” she said.
While waiting for the right time, Manila shared that she focused on developing her artistry and maintaining her career as a drag queen.
The opportunity came knocking this year after signing a contract with Cornerstone Entertainment. She will host the first-ever drag reality show in the Philippines called Drag Den Philippines.
“And then I realized yeah of course they were gonna fly my ass out to the Philippines when they have an entire like population of queens that are far more talented and far more beautiful than I am, and they speak Tagalog. Hahaha!”
She is currently in Manila, and upon arriving for the third time in the Philippines, she felt the warm welcome of the LGBTQ community and the drag community in the country.
“So when I finally came out here, I just felt the embrace of the drag community and the LGBTQ community. Then I started to realize that the straight community, women, girls, so many people outside the LGBTQ community, and the drag community were interested in what I was doing. So I always knew that there is something here in the Philippines that I had to tap.”
Manila also recalled that SM Supermalls gave her the idea of bringing a drag reality series into the Philippines.
“The Philippines has so much talent. They have the best singers in the world, they have such great entertainers, beautiful actresses, pageant queens, etc.
“And now it’s time for Filipinos to realize that they have another group of talent right here in this country that they haven’t quite seen yet. So we were ready for something more than just beautiful singing Filipina.
“We are ready to see a fierce queen, a drag supreme. So that’s why I thought this is the perfect time for us to do the show Drag Den,” she shared.
Drag Den Philippines was first announced earlier in June and slated for a release 2022.
The show will be available for streaming on WeTV for free.
