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By Bet Domingo Two Filipinos bring pride to the Philippines as they enter the roster of this year’s JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of theWorld (JCI TOYP) . HIV advocate and educator Ronivin “Vinn” Pagtakhan, and political analyst and academician Richard Javad Heydarian are joining eight other young active global citizens as honorees of the 2018 JCI TOYP. Other honorees came from Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Romania, Syria, Turkey and United Kingdom. Humanitarian-Voluntary Leadership For his compassion for those living with HIV and dedication to empower the LGBT community, Vinn Pagtakhan has been named JCI TOYP Honoree in the category of humanitarian and voluntary leadership. Over the past decade, cases of HIV have increased exponentially in the Philippines, one of the few countries with a rising incidence of the disease at an average of 31 diagnoses per day. The growth is attributed to the lack of knowledge on HIV prevention, care and support, which has worsened by the stigma around HI...

By Gello Ganon One drop has caused the ripple of altruism. One vision has shed light on the lost.  One voice has resonated through the hearts of many. Vinn Pagtakhan, the namesake of Vinn Advocacy, which would later be known as Love Yourself, started with a vision to provide a home, where, once visited, one can only leave with either a happy heart or at least, a hopeful one. It is a place where judgement is dusted off in the doormat before entering and hope is served for snacks. In just half a decade, shoulders were tapped to take on the mission to be a voice of the silent and to be the guide for the lost. They’re to be called the LoveYourself volunteers, modern-day superheroes (or super heroines for that matter) who work in the shadows. As Love Yourself turns 5, a simple celebration was held at Ramada Hotel in Binondo, Manila on the eve of July 2, 2016. Volunteers and friends of LoveYourself gathered and kicked off the night with the Circle of Love, an event commemorating good dee...

By Karl Faustino It was never in Vinn’s wildest dreams that he would eventually give birth to LoveYourself. Almost 5 years later, Vinn recalls how he and his friends raised this baby into the organization that has grown to be the largest, most renowned volunteer group advocating HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention in the Philippines. On conceiving LoveYourself Pre-LoveYourself, Vinn was a private person. As an advocate of “World Peace,” it became part of his life to do charity work, most of them outreach events. Back then, he was not yet aware of LGBT and MSM volunteer groups. “I just want to help” became his mantra. When he became a nursing practitioner, he created the twitter profile @TwitrNurse. As his following grew, he found out that most of the questions people asked on social media were slowly becoming more focused on HIV/AIDS, and these mostly came from gay/MSM accounts. Then he realized that the current efforts toward HIV/AIDS is not enough. He then said to himself, “If I wanted...

On July 21, 2011, LoveYourself was officially formed as a response to the alarming spread of HIV in the Philippines. And in just four years it has grown into a volunteer-powered movement that spreads love and positivity as a counter-force to the epidemic. To date, LoveYourself has provided free HIV testing services and confidential counseling to thousands of clients through its two community centers , helping reclaim their confidence regardless of their status with an approach rooted in self-worth instead of fear. LoveYourself's efforts have been recognized as a shining success both locally, as a finalist in the 2014 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations and through newspaper features, and internationally through recent visitations from the likes of the World Health Organization who want to find out what we are doing right. On this anniversary day, LoveYourself founder Vinn Pagtakhan has a special message specifically to its passionate volunteers, the "modern-day heroes" ...