All posts tagged: drei arias

Filipino International Male Pageant Title Holders from 2024 to date namely Dom Corilla (Mister Global 2024), Kirk Bondad (Mister International 2025), Marck Marasigan (Mister Celebrity International 2025), Oliver Eugen Kretz (Man of the World 2026), and Jose Carlos Paras (Mister National Universe 2026).

Every Filipino Man Competing Internationally in 2026: The Full List

Published by

At least thirteen different Filipino men have been crowned this cycle to represent the country at thirteen separate international pageants running through 2026 and into early 2027 — put forward by at least nine organizations that have nothing to do with each other, competing everywhere from Poland to Sri Lanka to Vietnam to Thailand to China. No single national final produced this group, and no single office is tracking all of them in one place. That’s what this is. Filipino delegates have been quietly stacking up wins across the male pageant circuit for years now — Kirk Bondad’s Mister International crown, Dom Corilla’s Mister Global title, a string of runner-up finishes at Mister World — but 2026 is the first year the sheer volume of separate crowns is worth tracking in one place. Some of these men have been on the national pageant circuit for years, cycling through near-misses before finally landing a title. Others won on their first real attempt. This is a running scorecard, not a one-time recap — it’ll get updated as …

Portraits at the Malaya Exhibit in Makati.

Malaya: The Portraits That Refused to Apologize

Published by

It rained the whole time. Manila’s weather had been erratic all week, and July 25 was no exception. People came anyway, filing into Midnight Dream Studio in Makati, shaking off umbrellas, for a portrait exhibition that asked something harder of its subjects than good lighting: to be looked at fully, without flinching first. That was the premise of Malaya: Bodies Without Apology, staged by Hara Clinic in collaboration with Midnight Dream Studio and The Red Whistle. Malaya means free. Dr. Deano Reyes, the clinic’s medical director, put the concept plainly when I spoke with him that evening: the project asks its participants “to be able to present themselves as their most authentic selves, to be unapologetic about who they are, to be free, to express their truest selves. That’s the concept behind Malaya.” Two Anniversaries, Two Different Parties Malaya wasn’t a standalone event — it was how Hara Clinic chose to mark its second year in operation. The first anniversary, Dr. Reyes told us, was a thanksgiving party. This one was deliberately something else. “This …

Mr. Gay World Philippines 2026 Drei Arias

Drei Arias: “There’s No Shame in Surviving” | Mr. Gay World Philippines 2026

Published by

Some pageant wins come down to a gown or a walk. This one came down to a sentence: “There’s no shame in surviving.” That’s the line that sealed it for Adrian Joseph “Drei” Arias, the 29-year-old Bulacan representative crowned Mr. Gay World Philippines 2026 on June 26 at Crossroads 77, Mother Ignacia Avenue, Quezon City. Arias didn’t win on stage presence alone — he won on a Q&A answer that turned into a coming-out story delivered live, in front of a room built specifically to hold it. The Answer That Won It Asked how LGBTQIA+ advocates build bridges with people who hold different beliefs while staying true to themselves, Arias didn’t reach for a talking point. He reached for his own history instead: “For years, I have denied myself. Maraming taon na dini-nay ko ‘yung sarili ko para sa sarili kong kapakanan, para magkaroon ng maraming projects, ng maraming trabaho dahil kailangan kong buhayin ang pamilya ko.” Years spent suppressing who he was, in service of stability and work and a family that needed supporting. …