Three members of the Hope Builders Organization Negros Island Inc. (HBONI)-Victorias attended a peer education and behavioral change communication symposium on September 21, 2026, at Victorias City Resort.
The organization’s representatives, including HBONI-Victorias area coordinator Niecer Peñaso, Samson Rodrigosa, and Renz Lava, listened closely to the symposium on sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) awareness, conducted by the Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Negros Occidental.
Other sectors that attended the symposium included SIDLAK PRIDE 6119, TESDA – Housekeeping Services NCII students, Victorias City Resort staff, and Victorias City Health
“HIV, STI, and AIDS have no face. You can’t point someone out and judge them because of their gender, looks, or life status. The best way to know someone has these infections and viruses is to get tested,” Peñaso said. “You can be around people with HIV. These are still people who want to be loved, to belong, and to be respected. We fight the virus, not the person.”
“Republic Act No. 11166, also known as the Philippine HIV and AIDS Policy Act, is a landmark Philippine law signed in December 2018 that updates and replaces the older Republic Act No. 8504 and strictly prohibits people from naming PLHIV or suspected PLHIV without their consent,” the youth leader said. “Posting it online to use it as a joke or banter to a suspected PLHIV is also a crime not only under RA11166 but also under the Data Privacy Act, and it’s also a cybercrime.”
“Let people live their lives according to their preferences. They might be gay sexually but manly in expression as long as they don’t step on your feet, respect them,” Peñaso said.*
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