MANILA, Philippines - After Sarah Jane Salazar, it was Wanggo Gallaga. HIV/AIDS has many faces, however—often hidden in a society that stares down at what they don’t understand. Another brave one steps out and chooses to make people more aware of the virus over being ashamed.
Humphrey Gorriceta
How long have you had HIV or AIDS?
I received my confirmatory last January 2008. I’ve been living with HIV for almost three years now.
How did you find out you had the virus?
I was supposed to leave for a lucrative job abroad when my required medical exam included HIV testing. That’s how I found out about my status. It was a blessing in disguise because if it were just up to me, I would not have thought of taking the test because I never suspected myself to be infected.
How did you proceed to deal with the knowledge that you had the virus?
Initially I thought I only have three to five years to live. I thought of a bucket list of good and noble things to do before I die. But I was wrong. I have an entire lifetime pa pala. But I only realized that a few months after I was executing my bucket list. I thought I don’t have any reason to stop doing good and noble things. So I am still at it.
The two biggest factors that helped me cope up with my infection is knowledge and social support. Being knowledgeable of everything about HIV, and having a strong support system through my family and friends, made it easy for me to cope with my situation. Knowing what I am up against helped take away the fear of living with the virus and having loving and supportive people to walk along side me in my life’s journey made it all worthwhile.
The problem with having HIV/AIDS in the Philippines is that a majority of the people here are apathetic about health issues. A lot of them don’t know what HIV is but they are so quick to judge, stigmatize and discriminate a person living with HIV. They see the problem but fail to see the pressing fact that we need to do something about it.
How do you deal with being HIV-infected or having AIDS today?
I am proud to say that my infection did me more good than bad. Getting infected is not something I wanted to celebrate, but the positive changes that happened in my life are overwhelming. When I accepted my situation and decided to come out with my status, my relationship with my family strengthened. I built a stronger bond with my friends and met and became friends with more people. I even found my niche by doing advocacy work.
I am living a normal and productive life. I still do the things I used to do. I hang out with friends; go to the movies, joy rides, out of town, DVD marathons, and a whole lot more. The only major changes in my life were I started taking my medication, took on a healthier lifestyle and I started caring not only for my wellbeing but for other people’s as well. My story has made a positive change in people’s lives, changed policies and inspired a lot people. Getting infected with HIV made me realize that there’s more love and hope in this world than we think there is.