Galing Pilipinas: At MAD STARS 2026, Filipino creativity is front and center as the Philippines is named first-ever Country of Focus

For nineteen years, MAD STARS has gathered Asia’s marketing, advertising, and digital leaders in Busan, South Korea for its annual festival and awards program. This year, the MAD STARS organizing committee is doing something it has never done before: casting a spotlight on its first-ever Country of Focus.

From August 26 to 28, the Philippines takes center stage as the inaugural Country of Focus at MAD STARS 2026. adobo Magazine, a longtime media partner of MAD STARS, has been tapped by the festival’s organizers to provide creative direction and mount a three-day event showcasing the power of Filipino creativity. 

That three-day event is Galing Pilipinas. Beyond featuring award-winning campaigns, it presents an opportunity for MAD STARS delegates to explore other facets of Filipino creativity and understand why it continues to matter beyond the Philippines.

A name with two meanings

In Filipino, the word “galing” is a small linguistic trick with a big payoff. It can mean “from,” as in origin — and it can mean “excellence,” as in skill or talent. Galing Pilipinas leans into both readings simultaneously: this is work from the Philippines, and it is being presented precisely because of excellence behind it. 

That duality is at the heart of Galing Pilipinas: creativity that is unmistakably Filipino in origin yet ambitious enough to stand alongside the best in the world.

Galing Pilipinas will have three major components: an exhibit, a conference, and a networking party.

The Galing Pilipinas exhibit will trace Philippine creative work from the 1980s to the present, bringing together significant campaigns alongside past MAD STARS-winning work from the Philippines. Additionally, the exhibit, which will run for three days, will also showcase a variety of Filipino brands and proudly Philippine-made products. 

Culture at MAD STARS isn’t confined to a gallery wall. On August 26, the festival’s opening networking party will fold Galing Pilipinas into the celebration with Filipino food, beverages, and cultural experiences — an invitation for the international delegate crowd to encounter the Philippines the way many locals would say matters most: at the table.

The storytelling will continue into the conference on August 28. The Galing Pilipinas conference will bring three prominent Filipino creative and marketing leaders to the stage: Dennis Perez, Head of Marketing, Marketing Transformation Lead at Unilever Philippines and Unilever Greater Asia Beauty & Wellbeing; Merlee Jayme, Chairmom of Jayme Headquarters and The Misfits Camp; and David Guerrero, Creative Chairman of BBDO Guerrero.

Together, their sessions will dig into how Philippine culture and its people inform brand strategy and creative output — a thread that runs throughout the Galing Pilipinas presentation: culture isn’t merely a backdrop for Filipino creativity; it’s an engine that drives creativity in different directions.

The bigger picture: MAD STARS 2026

Galing Pilipinas is one thread in a festival built around the theme AMPLIFY. Held from August 26 to 28 at Signiel Busan, MAD STARS 2026 marks the festival’s 19th edition and brings together roughly 40 conference sessions, a Business Market & Exhibition, live talent competitions (Young Stars and New Stars), and an Awards Show that closes out the festival on August 28 with the presentation of the Grand Prix of the Year.

This year’s festival also debuts AI-powered multilingual services across the conference and exhibition — including support for Filipino (Tagalog) — part of a broader push to widen access ahead of MAD STARS’ 20th anniversary in 2027. Fittingly, that language list underscores exactly what Galing Pilipinas is arguing for: that the Philippines’ creative voice deserves not just a seat at the table, but a stage of its own.

Full festival schedule and details are available via MAD STARS’ official site.

Organized by adobo Magazine, Galing Pilipinas is made possible through the support of its partners: Department of Foreign Affairs – Philippines, Philippine Consulate General in Busan, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), Design Center of the Philippines, Philippine Airlines, Oishi, Papemelroti, Lucky Me, Guzto Banana Chips, Lemon Square, M25, LoudBox Studios, and Think Tank. 

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