A Celebration of Filipino Literature and Culture

PBF 2025 is set to be even more dynamic and immersive, highlighting the country’s rich cultural heritage through its famous festivals, with each section of the event uniquely designed by some of the most talented Filipino artists today.

The Kid Lit section, dedicated to children’s literature, takes inspiration from the colorful Dinagyang Festival, with designs crafted by Juno Abreu. Meanwhile, the Komiks section brings to life the energy of General Santos City’s Tuna Festival through the artistic vision of illustrator and painter Paul Eric Roca. The Aral Aklat section, which focuses on textbooks, adopts the festive aesthetic of the Pahiyas Festival in Quezon, designed by local artist Joffrey “Pepot” Atienza. Lastly, Booktopia, the area dedicated to fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, embraces the floral splendor of Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival, conceptualized by Danielle Florendo.

A major highlight of the festival is the Pakyawan Plaza, a crowd-favorite centerpiece. This year, it will feature an intricately designed Pahiyas Festival-themed activation space, complete with a traditional bahay kubo where visitors can browse a curated collection of children’s books, further enriching the immersive experience.

A New Venue for Greater Accessibility

The PBF 2025 moves to a fresh location at the Megatrade Hall in SM Megamall, a strategic choice aimed at increasing accessibility and drawing a larger audience. Situated in the heart of Metro Manila, this new venue ensures that book lovers from surrounding areas, including Caloocan, Quezon City, Makati, Taguig, and even Rizal province, can easily attend. The festival's location within a major shopping mall also provides convenience, with access via the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 and the EDSA Busway.

NBDB Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade shared insights on this shift, stating, “Moving to a more accessible venue may be a bold decision, but we believe it will help us reach more people, increase foot traffic, and make it easier for visitors from various parts of Metro Manila and beyond to experience the festival.”

Bridging the Gap in Book Accessibility

Under the leadership of Aquino-Tugade and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, the PBF has achieved a significant milestone—securing over PHP 925 million worth of Philippine trade books and textbooks. This initiative underscores the festival’s mission to address systemic gaps in book access and readership.

As an attached agency of the DepEd, the NBDB provides a crucial platform for regional and district education offices to procure high-quality books while fostering collaboration among educators, publishers, and industry professionals. The large-scale book acquisitions by DepEd ensure that a broader audience, particularly students across the country, gains access to locally authored literature.

“The PBF is our love letter to Philippine books, their creators, and their readers,” Aquino-Tugade expressed. “It is also our answer to the country’s reading crisis, which is largely a problem of accessibility. By creating a marketplace for quality Filipino titles, we are connecting books with the readers who need them most.”

She further emphasized the NBDB’s commitment to transforming the reading landscape in the Philippines. “We play a vital role not just in growing the book industry but in shaping an environment where reading is encouraged and sustained. The NBDB and its partners will continue to work toward greater book accessibility by saturating the market and educational institutions with high-quality, Philippine-authored and published books.”

About the National Book Development Board

The National Book Development Board (NBDB) is the leading authority in the Philippine book industry. The agency is dedicated to fostering the country’s publishing sector while safeguarding its vibrant culture of authorship and reading. For more updates and information, visit the NBDB’s social media pages.