AP FILE PHOTO
TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Jay is brave enough to stand in front of a crowd to tell his story – his was the only testimony from a Person Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (PLHIV) at the AIDS Candlelight Memorial (ACM) program held at the Quezon City circle on Friday evening.
But he is still wary of revealing his full name.
“The stigma comes from within ourselves,” he told the Inquirer in Filipino, in an interview at the sidelines of the event. “Honestly, I have never experienced it from anyone else – from my family, my classmates, or my coworkers. But we PLHIVs tend to hide. We think when we come out, we will be rejected.”
Jay is an active member of Pinoy Plus, a local support group for PLHIV. But his fear of being rejected is not entirely unfounded. There are many who pass away alone suffering HIV or the more severe acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), as bereaved mother Cecille Bacaylan Launio would attest.
Launio’s son, Angelo, or “Long” to his loved ones, died March last year, after struggling with HIV since 2009. He was 25.
Launio recalled that whenever her son was confined at the H4 ward of the San Lazaro hospital in Manila, a section for PLHIV, she would make rounds and care for patients without company.
Growing emotional when she gave her testimony at the candlelight memorial, Launio said that while she was grieving for her son, “I felt more sad for those children who died without a mother guiding them.”
DOH undersecretary Vicente Belizario Jr. said that with the antiretroviral treatment, “HIV is no longer synonymous to a death sentence. But a lot of people still don’t understand that. Our main enemy here is lack of information, and the shame.”
The shame only perpetuates the problem, noted Fr. Dan Cancino Jr. of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Health Care, during a Mass at the ACM. “Stop discrimination and stigma in the issue of HIV and AIDS. It is because of it that there are only few who get themselves tested,” Cancino said.
While the discrimination and shame is real, so is the struggle to combat it. The ACM—which has been held annually for 32 years worldwide since it began in San Francisco, California in the United States—seeks to remember those who died from
AIDS, show support for those living with HIV, and fight the stigma the community faces.
Department of Health (DOH) assistant secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial, who has attended all 16 memorials held in the Philippines, believes there has been progress for the movement.
In a speech at the ACM, Ubial said that since 1984, recorded HIV incidences have been increasing every year. The 2015 data tallies 21 new cases of HIV every day, as opposed to only one case recorded per day in 2008.
But Ubial actually takes heart in these figures, as it shows more people willing to get tested. “We believe that many of them already had HIV, but only had themselves tested recently. The health department holds capacity-building and advocacy activities every year, so more and more people are reached by our messages. They are encouraged by it. And testing facilities have also been increasing,” Ubial said, in an interview.
The ACM was held at the tail-end of the health department’s free National HIV Testing Week. Around 1,200 people have already availed of the testing in seven centers in Metro Manila, and the numbers have been doubling per day, Ubial said. “Of the 1,000 we tested, we detected 37 persons with HIV. They will be tested further for confirmation, but we hope with this activity, they would know their status. You are sexy if you know your status, so you could take measures to stem the spread of HIV and get yourself treated,” she said.
Ubial said there are 24,376 total documented HIV cases in the Philippines so far. Of this number, 1,400 have died of AIDS.
Jay, in his speech, asked his peers to be “responsible for yourselves, your family, and your community,” and to have themselves tested.
“You are the hope to stop the spread of HIV in our country,” Jay said, his voice shaking.
Jay also addressed families of the PLHIV: “First of all, accept them with all your heart. Because even if you reject your children, it won’t change anything. The virus destroys the immune system. It shouldn’t destroy the relationship between parents and their children.”
“To our communities, as PLHIV, we don’t need your pity. What is more important to us [are] your respect, understanding, and support. We want to live normal lives despite our condition. We still want good jobs, proper education, to step outside our homes without being insulted,” Jay said.
Ubial said government funding for HIV programs have jumped 300 percent this year, from P100 million in 2014, to P300 million. “That’s why we’ve been able to hold free HIV testing and counseling. We expect a bigger budget in 2016, especially for treatment. The DOH’s proposal is P450 million,” Ubial said.
This year’s ACM was punctuated by the unfolding of the AIDS quilt of the Names Project Philippines, hand-sewn quilts bearing the names of PLHIV who already passed away. Launio offered a candle and broke down sobbing in front of the patch sewn for her son.
Jay said he and his partner grew emotional during the unfolding, as they quietly discussed that maybe they needed to start sewing their own quilts.
“But I want to fight, that’s why I am here,” Jay told the Inquirer.
Jay struggles with the side-effects of having to take prescribed medicines daily, but warns his fellow PLHIV never to take a “drug holiday.”
“Never miss your medicines. We should be thankful we can get treatment these days. Some people stop taking their medicines because of the side effects. But I would rather live. It’s not only for my family, but also for my friends who I want to help,” Jay said.
The ACM was organized by the DOH, the Philippine National Aids Commission, the Quezon City government, the Philippine Information Agency, Pinoy Plus, the Names Project Philippines, the Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc., among others. AC