POSI+IVISM
Positive Living
PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 2009

In December 2008, Wanggo Gallaga, son of the acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Peque Gallaga, came out to the nation – NOT just that he is gay, but that he is HIV positive.  "My name is Wanggo Gallaga. I'm twenty-nine years old, I'm a writer, I'm HIV positive, and I'm telling my story so that others will be aware," were his (exact) words, as written by the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Super Section) – a story re-told by ANC's Storyline Life on January 16, 2009.

"I took a gamble and I lost. I'm accountable," Gallaga says, blaming no one for his seropositive status – in fact believing he contracted the HIV virus due to his promiscuity, specifically at a certain time when he was sexually active, finding various sexual partners online.

His coming-out is part-advocacy, actually, since Gallaga believes how the public continues to know so little about AIDS.  The hope is for his story to re-ignite discussions on HIV and/or AIDS, i.e. by coming out in the open (with the support of the Gallaga family, of course), awareness will be increased, and less people will contract the virus.

It was at this time that POSI+IVISM/ Positivism came into existence (thus the big boost in image when it started).
Positivism is, states the group’s Web site, a “movement of people of different genders, sexualities, ages, walks of life and HIV-statuses, united by the intense desire to ignite change.”  That change is, obviously, focused on HIV and/or AIDS, at the group “works side by side to create and maintain a spokesmedium for HIV in the Philippines.”

The focus is on information dissemination – “We believe that ignorance breeds guilt, fear and prejudice. Our advocacy aims to offer Filipinos – at home and all over the world – a deeper, more sensitive understanding of HIV/AIDS, through the dissemination of credible, easy-to-grasp facts.”

Expect, therefore, for stories from the likes of Gallaga.

“We don’t take HIV lightly but we want to approach it with a lightness of spirit. Being HIV-positive is not the end of everything. Being HIV-negative is not reason to be ignorant or apathetic. We wish to offer comfort and guidance as well as increase awareness and breed open-mindedness, so we can shed all negativity and embrace positivism,” the Web site ends.

For information, visit http://positivism.ph.