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By Kris Tangco Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are one of the groups vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS crisis the Philippines is facing. Addressing the plight of OFWs by highlighting and bringing awareness to their struggles, HIV awareness and advocacy group LoveYourself, in partnership with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) will be staging Care Divas , a play about the lives of five transgender OFWs. Background on OFWs The Filipino diaspora has brought an estimated total of 10.4 million ethnic Filipinos to seek opportunities abroad, roughly 2.3 million of which are OFWs [ 1 ] . As of 2015, OFW remittances sent home by Filipinos abroad amounted to almost 30 billion US Dollars [ 2 ] , representing around more than 10% of the national economy. The Philippines is one of the world’s largest suppliers of human labor - in fact, the country is a pioneer in organized labor migration [ 3 ] . Deployment of Filipinos abroad started during the Martial Law years when legislation forma...

By Carlos Diego A. Rozul and Christian Watson Vergara LoveYourself Inc., in partnership with the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), will host the 3:00 p.m. show of the 2011 hit comedy musical Care Divas on February 5, 2017, Sunday, at the PETA Theater Center in New Manila, Quezon City to raise fun ds for LoveYourself’s continued services and projects. The multi-awarded musical tells the tale of five transgender Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Israel who work as caregivers by day and fierce drag performers by night. The story goes beyond the struggles of our fellow Filipinos abroad as it tackles the search for acceptance in a faraway country. Care Divas bagged seven trophies from the 2011 Gawad Buhay! Awards , including Outstanding Musical Production, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, Outstanding Male Lead in a Musical, Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Original Libretto, Outstanding Stage Direction, and Outstanding Choreography for a Play or Musical. Th...