Joy Barcoma may not have taken her customary farewell walk during the Miss Philippines Earth coronation night, but the well-loved beauty queen made up for it on the stage of ‘LoveLaban’ Pride Festival 2026.
The rising star of live events, who has now also dabbled in TV hosting, appeared in a resplendent white gown with a sash in the colors of the rainbow when she took the stage at the festivities held at the University of the Philippines Diliman in Quezon City on Saturday evening, June 27.
The national pageant’s organizer no longer required her presence at the final competition held in Bukidnon in the same evening. Her followers expressed their disappointment when the news came out, and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña even took to social media to invite Barcoma to the Pride March instead.
Her appearance on the fourth staging of LoveLaban was a last-minute addition to the program, a welcome suprise to the hundreds of thousands of revelers who trooped to the festival. She was originally part of the national pageant’s finale show, but her schedule cleared up and she was able to join the pride celebration.
Host Jervi Wrightson, also known as Kaladkaren, playfully alluded to Bacoma not having her farewell walk when she introduced the beauty queen as a surprise host for the festival. ‘Didn’t she not have her final walk? But sorry, she will have her final walk here at LoveLaban 2026!’ she said in Filipino.
She also instructed Barcoma to take the whole stage as if she was indeed taking her farewell walk. Content creator Justine Pena, who also hosted the event, said, ‘A queen amongst queens’ as the pageant titleholder waved to the crowd.
Another LoveLaban host who was with Wrightson and Pena when Barcoma made her way onstage was Migs Almendras, who quipped, ‘Truly deserving of her final walk.’
Barcoma joined the three hosts and greeted the crowd, ‘Hello, mga bakla (gays)! Happy LoveLaban 2026!’ to which the spectators responded with loud cheers and thunderous applause.
‘Of course I want to express my gratitude because I’ve been waiting for this moment. And I did not expect that I will do it here,’ she said in a mix of Filipino and English.
‘I would always like to do it with people that supported me, and that loved me, and that welcomed me. So thank you for welcoming me tonight, and thank you for the love,’ Barcoma continued.
She won her title at the 25th edition of the national pageant, making her a milestone queen of the organization. Since then she has maximized the platform, drawing the public’s attention to Miss Philippines Earth, even those who are not avid fans of pageantry.
Barcoma has shown how beauty pageants can truly serve as a vehicle for women empowerment, and that pageantry is also a space where queens can be outspoken.
She earned the admiration of many when she used the Miss Earth stage to speak about corruption in the Philippines amid the devastating effects of calamities hitting the country.
Barcoma has endeared herself with her engaging hosting style, mostly because of her witty and amusing banter with the candidates and the audience that became viral online.
But what also made her capture the public’s attention, and admiration, was her proactive integration of the pageant’s advocacy on environmental protection to her call to end corruption in government.
For Barcoma, misuse of public funds greatly impedes the government’s climate change mitigation efforts and sustainability measures, thereby robbing Filipinos of an environment that is suitable for living.
Also an outspoken ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, Barcoma used the LoveLaban stage to speak about equality and respect for one’s identity.
‘We are here not only to have fun, to party, and fight for our rights, but also to show or love for one another. Always remember, whoever you are, whatever you may be, you deserve equal rights,’ Barcoma said.