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By Ryan Taborada Twenty-one new volunteers from Batch Espada were welcomed to the LoveYourself family on February 16, 2020, at LoveYourself White House , in Cebu City. This fourth batch of volunteers in Cebu was already involved in the HIV advocacy completing 50 hours of volunteer work prior to the orientation. This gave every volunteer to get to know each other and develop the dedication of working in the advocacy.  “The orientation was a way to formally welcome Batch Espada volunteers who have already shown their commitment by rendering community hours before they were allowed to join the official orientation,” said Dennis Tagamolila, head of Cebu’s LoveU - the committee spearheading the event. The day’s agenda included an HIV Situationer from Atty. Orville Dela Cerna, which presented data on the state of HIV transmissions both globally and locally. Tagamolila then continued with a discussion on volunteerism, invigorating the passion they have for the advocacy. Soon after LoveU m...

By Niño Villalino LoveYourself volunteers together with Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. employees during the HIV Caravan at Shell Cebu Regional Office Mandaue City  — LoveYourself Cebu partnered with Pilipinas Shell  Petroleum Corp.  (PSPC) for HIV awareness and screening at its Cebu Regional Office in Mandaue City on January 11, 2020. This is the first caravan organized by LoveYourself Cebu for this year. “It’s only apt that we start our caravans with Pilipinas Shell, one of our main funders,” said Dennis Tagamolila, head of LoveYourself University (LoveU) in Cebu, the training arm of LoveYourself. Jan Estrada, head of LoveYourself Cebu, said that the organization will continue to partner with several companies and organizations this year to reach more people. “We are happy that several companies and organizations join us in our advocacy. We have several caravans in the pipeline, and there are several who already expressed plans of inviting us.” In 2019, LoveYourself Ceb...

By LoveYourself Cebu Communications TALISAY CITY, CEBU - Miss Universe-Philippines 2019 Gazini Ganados, together with LoveYourself Inc. and the City Government of Talisay, champions the HIV advocacy in Cebu in an outreach program held on Saturday - October 12 at the People’s Hall of the city. During the event, Ganados was unveiled as the newest ambassador of LoveYourself, adding the cause to her initial “elderly care” advocacy. She also headlines the HIV awareness and prevention forum, together with the free HIV screening for the day. The outreach was also in cooperation with Youth for Better Talisay, and Talisay City LGBT Bangaw Federation. Vice Mayor Alan G. Bucao lauded the initiative. “I am so happy that LoveYourself has given their trust in us, the City of Talisay and Talisay City LGBT Bangaw, in extending their advocacy on HIV awareness and prevention. I am looking forward to a more fruitful partnership with LoveYourself and Bangaw in this worthy cause.” Ganados now serves as the...

By LoveYourself Cebu Communications You can now get free condoms and water-based lubricants from all Anytime Fitness Cebu branches starting October this year. This is after they signed a partnership with SafeSpacesPH. The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Anytime Fitness Cebu’s Area Managers Lloyd Comeling and Sheila Subang. Under the agreement, SafeSpacesPH will set up “condoment stations” in all their branches in Metro Cebu. These stations offer free condoms and water-based lubricants. Anyone can access these condoment stations from the four Anytime Fitness branches— Cebu IT Park, Cebu Business Park, Escario, and Oakridge in Mandaue. The "neighborhood 24-hour gym" is already a partner in Metro Manila. Now, they are SafeSpacesPH’s first partner in the Visayas. "Condom use remains to be the most effective way to prevent the transmission of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). We can stop spreading the virus by making it mo...

By Shiela Ursabia LoveYourself Cebu conducted its orientation for the fourth and biggest batch of volunteers on August 18, 2019 Sunday at Qualfon Building, Skyrise 3, IT Park, Cebu City. More than 70 volunteers out of the total 144 volunteers in LoveYourself White House attended the said orientation bearing the name Batch Dasig. It is a Cebuano term which means "Encourage", as LoveYourself Cebu continues to strengthen their presence in the local Cebuano scene and encourage people to have themselves tested for HIV. “Life-changing,” as one volunteer, Jude Nitcha, coined it, the orientation was full of informative and insightful ideas spearheaded by LoveYourself Recruitment Team, and facilitated by Jan Vincent Estrada, Head of LoveYourself Cebu. The fourth batch's logo symbolizes the phoenix representing the sun or warmth that they will bring to the group. Batch Dasig aims to motivate people to fight the stigma and rebuild their life to be better than before. Bringing with t...

By LoveYourself Communications CEBU CITY - Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach will walk the runway as she headlines the LoveYourself Cebu's ETUF: Cebu’s Premier Fashion Auction for HIV/AIDS Advocacy on 6 July 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at the Events Space in Cebu City. Together with Wurtzbach, who will don the fashion of Cebuano designers and stylists, are Queen Universe 2019 Bee Urgello, social media darling DeeDee Villegas, social media sensation Alem Garcia, and international Cebuana singer-songwriter and LoveYourself ambassador Karencitta. A portion of the proceeds from all gowns to be auctioned off in ETUF will go to LoveYourself's HIV causes in Cebu. ETUF tickets prices starts at P500 for general admission, and P1,500 for VIP. Avail of the tickets here:  bit.ly/LoveYourselfETUF   or contact LoveYourself White House at 0927-873-7575 or (032) 367-7016. “ETUF is a Cebuano gay lingo for white, which symbolizes one's pure heart to help the HIV advocacy like our ambassadors, supporter...

By Rome Nicolas On April 7, 2019, the LoveYourself Cebu family has welcomed the third batch of awesome volunteers who dedicated their time to learn more through the HIV 101 Training and LoveYourself Orientation in Qualfon Learning Center in Cebu IT Park. As part of LoveYourself Cebu, members of Batch Kalayo can expect to be at the forefront of helping the community through HIV 101 training, counseling and education. A total of 24 new members have pledged their commitment to spark the fire of loving ourselves and helping the community that needs our support. Part of the Pledge of Commitment signed by all the volunteers includes this: I will dare to be who I am so that I better know how to take care of myself, and I will share this means of taking care of myself to others as means of multiplying joy and happiness. Batch Kalayo also attended a Counselor's Training on April 14, 2019 at SYKES Grand Ballroom in Cebu City. Participants learned how to conduct HIV counseling for clients of ...

By Raychie Lomongo VOLUNTEERISM IN CEBU: Opening on 27 April 2019, LoveYourself White House will serve as the newest community center of LoveYourself, Inc. , contributing to the global goal of ending HIV/AIDS by 2030.  In photo are the volunteers of LoveYourself Cebu. CEBU CITY – The LoveYourself, Inc., the leading community-led HIV services provider in Manila, will extend its reach to Cebu with the grand opening of its newest center – the LoveYourself White House on 27 April 2019 near the Fuente Circle. As LoveYourself White House opens its doors, Cebuanos will have a new safe space where they can get HIV-related services for free. This includes HIV education, counseling, testing and treatment. LoveYourself White House will also offer free internet and coffee. This concept of co-working space allows students to study and young professionals to work, while getting tested at the same time. “LoveYourself is always trying a new concept to diversify its response relative to the needs ...

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 equ...

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 bu...