Geishas, Adarna lanterns light up Baguio int’l AIDS memorial

AIDS HIV program advocates from Baguio and local bars dress up as Japanese geishas to take part in Baguio’s HIV parade on Thursday night, May 14, 2026, ahead of this year’s International AIDS candle lighting memorial on May 17. — Photo by Vincent Cabreza BAGUIO CITY — Japanese geishas and bright Ibong Adarna lanterns provided vivid color to Baguio’s HIV parade and ceremonies on Thursday (May 14) night, ahead of this year’s International AIDS candle lighting memorial on May 17. The memorial, now on its 41st staging, honors individuals all over the globe who have passed away from HIV-related ailments since 1983. The Baguio memorial at the city’s Malcolm Square led by healthworkers and employees of local bars also renews public awareness about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and the virus that attacks the immune system, said City Health Services Officer Dr. Celia Brillantes. At a Department of Health (DOH) briefing on Wednesday (May 13), the medical community had tracked 79 deaths out of 1,428 patients treated in Baguio and the mountain region from 1984 to December last year. Article continues after this advertisement READ: DOH warns of ongoing local concentrated HIV epidemic in PH Based on a DOH November 2025 tally, the summer capital (where 761 HIV patients are located), and the provinces of Benguet (202 cases) and Abra (194 cases) host the larger clusters out of the current 1,349 who received HIV medical support. The DOH and city health workers have been concerned about the rising number of teens as young as 15 years old who received treatment. Young adults aged between 24 and 34 years old are predominant in most HIV rosters. Joseph Leo, who is also performing drag queen Sagada Arabica, said the memorial aims to cut down prejudices against HIV-afflicted individuals as well as the LGBTQ community, to which AIDS is still associated. H saide suffers “as an Igorot boy who has felt the sting of being different in my own culture.” “I am here because I refuse to let my diagnosis be my final act. For too long, society treated those three letters, H, I, and V, as a death sentence or as a source of shame. But science has outpaced the fear. HIV is no longer a life sentence. It is a manageable condition. With the right medicine, and the grace of proper care, we reach a state called undetectable. And in the world of medicine, undetectable equals untransmissible. When I am undetectable, the virus is suppressed and my health has been protected,” the performer said. Article continues after this advertisement “So, why are we still lighting candles for those we’ve lost? Stigma is the thing that kills. When we ostracize the LGBTQ community, we build the wall between human beings and the help they need,” he said. READ: Alarm up over rising HIV cases among PH teens Article continues after this advertisement Leo said: “To end the stigma, … a kind word can be just as life-saving as a pill. Realize that being an Igorot and being LGBTQ are not in conflict. They are both parts of a beautiful complex identity. We light a fire against the silence that has claimed too many of our brothers and sisters. Let (the candles) burn away the prejudice. Let it melt the indifference. I have stood in the coldest shadows of these mountains, fighting a war against a virus in my blood and a darkness in my mind, and yet, I am still here. I am still standing. I am still breathing. I am still beautiful.” /das Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful.