EMBATTLED DRAG ARTIST Pura Luka Vega took to Instagram on August 24, 2023 to ask for donations as they face legal battles.
Although they did not specify which case they were facing, Pura Luka Vega is facing charges and complaints filed by several Christian sects after Pura Luka's controversial drag performance of depicting Jesus Christ while dancing to a rock version of the Ama Namin.
"We're going to court and we need your help more than ever," Pura Luka Vega wrote on their podcast's Instagram page.
"Your donations will go to Luka’s family and transpo/food for their court dates this September," Pura Luka Vega added.
Pura Luka Vega faces criminal charges filed by the Philippines for Jesus Movement, which is a coalition of Protestant sects in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Catholic group Hijos Del Nazareno Central, which is composed of devotees of the Black Nazarene, has also filed a complaint against the drag artist at the Manila Regional Trial Court, according to a report by ABS-CBN.
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Pura Luka Vega on Persona Non Grata: 'Dagdagan niyo pa! Pakialam ko?'
Pura Luka Vega dares more LGUs to declare persona non grata

Pura Luka Vega, whose real name is Amadeus Fernando Pagente, was declared persona non grata in 12 Philippine LGUs, namely, Manila, Cebu City, Laguna, Cagayan De Oro City, General Santos City; Floridablanca in Pampanga, Bukidnon Province, Toboso in Negros Occidental, Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, Dinagat Islands, and Coron.
But despite the mounting anger manifested by local councils, Pura Luka Vega dared more cities to declare her persona non grata.
In response to these declarations, Vega says, "Ito lang masasabi ko. Simple lang, simplehan lang natin. Lahat tayo, makasalanan. Tama? Di tayo perpekto. Tama? Gayun pa man, do unto others what you want others to do unto you! Do not do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you! Golden rule lang po iyon!"
Pura Luka Vega added, "So para sa mga ibang lugar na gusto pa mag persona [non grata] diyan, dagdagan niyo pa! Pakialam ko? Separation ng Church at ng State!"
CBCP warned critics of Pura Luka Vega
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines or CBCP has warned critics of Pura Luka Vega who accuse the drag artist of blasphemy but turn a blind eye to injustices in the Philippines.
"There are many ways of committing blasphemy but while we notice the more obvious forms of it, we may be completely oblivious of its many other forms in our daily lives," said CBCP's President, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.
"Christ may indeed be blasphemed by people who mock his icons and his teachings. But I am sure he is blasphemed even more by people who come to Church regularly but cannot recognize his face in women and children who are abused, in victims of human trafficking, in the thousands of alleged “drug suspects” who have been abducted, tortured and summarily executed in the last several years, in the homeless poor who live like rats in dwellings unfit for humans, in the undocumented Filipinos who literally do not count and are treated like unwanted aliens in their own country," said David.
He further warned Pura Luka Vega's critics.
"Isn’t our Christian discipleship about learning to take the blows the way the Nazarene himself did, HATING THE SIN BUT LOVING THE SINNER, never giving up on anyone of us, suffering and dying for our redemption?" said David in a lengthy Facebook post about Pura Luka Vega on July 17.
CBCP asks the faithful not to react to Pura Luka Vega, but to respond intelligently
In the same Facebook post, David asked the faithful to not be overwhelmed by anger or emotion even as they are hurt by Pura Luka Vega's display.
"Let that love teach us, not to REACT, but to RESPOND in a spiritually intelligent way. St Paul says in Eph 4:26-27, 'If you are angry, do not let it lead you to sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not give the devil a chance to work on you.'"
Kim Atienza says Pura Luka Vega's art is offensive

In early August, Kuya Kim Atienza posted his advice for the embattled drag artist.
"Hi Luka. We haven’t met yet but I wish you well. I sincerely hope you develop the empathy to know how deeply offensive your ‘art’ is to majority of Filipinos," said Atienza.
Atienza elaborated his message in an interview with Marites University, a talk show program on YouTube.
"May kasabihan tayo bilang Kristyano, we are to love the sinner and hate the sin. I have nothing [against Pura Luka Vega], I respect her, I do not hate her. I admire her that she's an artist, pero yung ginawa niya sa Ama Namin, I am offended," said Atienza.
"It is art! No question. But it offended millions of Filpinos who revere the Our Father, [Filipinos] who depended on that prayer in their times of darkness, depended on that prayer in their times of depression. Who depended on that prayer in the times of the lockdown when they were about to kill themselves. At gaganoonin mo? Masakit," Atienza added.
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