Old LY Site

By Vondraye Batch Bitoon LoveYourself White House has welcomed a new batch of volunteers to join its stronghold in the HIV Advocacy in the heart of Cebu City, located in Fuente Osmeña. Batch Amuma now has additional 31 new brothers and sisters in the LoveYourself Family – Batch Bitoon  who shared their passion for volunteerism.  LoveYourself Whitehouse has been hard at work with its Metro Manila co-founders Vinn Pagtakhan and Chris Lagman to further fortify its services in preparation for its opening in late April 2019. Batch Bitoon has been equipped with basic knowledge of HIV transmission, and HIV counseling skills. The remarkable Batch Bitoon accomplished their training in HIV 101 and operations on  January 12 held at the Learning Lounge - Qualfon Education Cebu IT Park. Co-founders  Vinn and Chris, graced their presence at the HIV Counselling Training on January 26, 2019 held at SMEAG Capital Campus, set to open in late April, Batch Bitoon has now been equipped with basic knowled

By Nicole Silvestre Women's month is a celebration of women’s success and contribution to our society. Inclusion has been a long standing issue in the movement towards equality, and for LGBTQIA+ women it is a bigger struggle to remain visible. During dictatorship in the 1980’s, the lesbian community struggled to be visible to the public due to subsumption of their rights between women’s rights that were previously heterosexual in nature and gay movement that previously regarded them as female version of homosexual men. It is already 2019 and the same struggles can be seen happening in the trans community. Photo by Raine Cortes History of Trans Women in the Philippines Contrary to popular belief, transgender women or trans women did not just pop-up in the 20th century. Several accounts in Philippine history prove that trans women had played important roles in our society even before the Spaniards came to the Philippines. The most popular of which are the Babaylans or Visayan Shaman

By Love Gala Secretariat (Manila, Philippines). More than four years after winning Miss Universe 2015, Pia Wurtzbach has remained committed to her causes, especially on HIV awareness campaign as she headlines “Love Gala 2019: Courage Amplified ” – an event powered by the LoveYourself, Inc.  The Love Gala, the Asia’s premier charity and awards event that supports HIV awareness and education campaign, will be held on May 11, at the ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Quezon City.  Wurtzbach, a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, will also be joined by Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, who is a volunteer-ambassadress of the LoveYourself – a non-government organization that promotes HIV awareness and education campaign in the Philippines. To join Wurtzbach and Gray on this cause, tickets for the Love Gala are available at www.lovegala.org . LoveYourself founder and Executive Director Ronivin Pagtakhan said that Wurtzbach was chosen to be one of the Love Gala ambassadresses along with Gra

LoveYourself releases Limited Edition shirts to Wear Love for More Love!  I n collaboration with  Inspi , t his T-shirt for a cause campaign is made available anywhere in the Philippines through online via Shopee. There are  two distinct designs: The LoveYourself Black Shirt and The Love.Fight.Cure. Red Flip Shirt .  A huge portion of the sales of the shirts will support LoveYourself's free and confidential HIV testing services, awareness programs, and community movements like the  Love Gala  this May 11, 2019. These limited edition T-shirts are made from premium cotton. The shirts' design is silk screened, and have a straight hem.  The shirts have a variety of sizes from XS to XL, which only cost for PhP249.00.  Hurry! Add to cart now  and purchase  for this will only last until  May 1, 2019.   The shirts will be shipped to you wherever you are in the Philippines! Click the images below to order yours now! The LoveYourself T-Shirt in Black Love. Fight. Cure Flip Shirt in Red

By: Rabsin De la Cruz Batch Amuma serves as LoveYourself’s newest set of Cebu-based volunteers and counselors in the HIV awareness and prevention advocacy. A few years back, LoveYourself reached out to open a community center in Cebu. Due to the unforeseen factors, the plan was delayed and went back to the drawing board. Now, after years of colloquy comes the realization of a dream as LoveYourself returned with a stronger mission and a long-term vision. On the day of the batch orientation - 10 November 2018, this set of spirited Cebuanos knows that this is the start of something more than just volunteerism. It was the beginning of a legacy coming into a reality.  A batch of 18 aspiring volunteers went through ‘HIV Counselor Training’ with the help of our Manila representatives: Kahel Sta. Maria and Danvic Rosadi ño , together with  LoveYourself's   pioneer  Cebu-based  counselors. T he trainers proudly produced competent counselors and fire up their burning passion for volunteerism

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Now more than ever, we need to be brave in expressing our love. Staunchly proving this is Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, who headlines the Love Gala 2019: Courage Amplified . Love Gala is Asia's premier charity and awards event that supports HIV awareness and education, which will take place on 11 May 2019 at the ASB-CBN Vertis Tent, Quezon City. Following on the success of the first Love Gala in 2017, this year’s gala night is set to produce an even louder voice for the HIV advocacy. To join this movement, tickets are available here . Pia is a prominent and vocal advocate of HIV awareness – She is the UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for Asia & the Pacific and was also named as an HIV Prevention Ambassador for non-profit organization Aid for AIDS. Pia is also joined by reigning Miss Universe Catriona Gray for the Love Gala. Catriona also champions the HIV-AIDS advocacy by volunteering at LoveYourself, who recently encouraged the women to brave the HI

By Bet Domingo Over the years, the world has become a more gender inclusive realm, seeing an increase in women’s recognition and contribution to the modern society. In observance of the International Women’s Day (IWD) every 8th of this month, the Philippines celebrates the National Women’s Month every March. Its battlecry since 2017 up to 2022 is “We Make Change Work for Women.” In support for this movement, LoveYourself aims to empower and give a stronger voice to our sisters, mothers, nieces, grandmas and granddaughters as well as our transgender women friends, who can definitely make a great impact in the development of a more accepting and progressive society. We believe that the women, particularly the Filipinas, can surely give the appropriate perspective to the pressing issue of HIV and AIDS, not just in the country, but to the world over. This calls for a great discussion, since women account for 51% of the total global number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) or about 17.4 mil

Tony and Grammy award winning producer Jhett Tolentiono and FRONTROW Entertainment proudly bring the multi-awarded revival play M. Butterfly to Cebu City this March 14-17, 2019. The story revolves around Rene Gallimard, a member of the French embassy in China. Rene is mild mannered and considers himself to be poor with women. When he meets Chinese opera star Song Liling, he falls in love with her and thought of her to be the embodiment of the perfect woman -Madame Butterfly. This breathtaking story of love, power, and deception has been certainly brought to life by its amazing cast. Along with 2018 Aliw Award Best Actor RS Francisco reprising his role as Song Liling, the cast includes Philippine theater royalty Jenine Desiderio to play Helga Gallimard, Oliver Borten as Rene Gallimard, and Norm McLeod as Manuel Toulon. You can catch the performances of M. Butterfly in SM Seaside City Centerstage, Cebu City on the following dates: March 14, 2019 (Thursday) - Opening Night 7pm March 15, 2