Wazzup Pilipinas!
Two Filipinos bring pride to the Philippines as they enter the roster of this year’s JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (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 HIV causing many individuals to hide and avoid seeking help.
Pagtakhan started on Twitter by giving honest and accessible health advices to people asking, mostly about HIV and sexually transmitted infections. This brought Pagtakhan and six of his friends to establish the organization LoveYourself in 2011.
LoveYourself aims to open self-sustaining resource clinics for the youth and LGBT communities, offering free HIV-related services such education, testing and counseling, treatment, care and support, as well as become a model community to other community-based HIV organizations around the Philippines.
To date, Pagtakhan’s group is serving free HIV testing to around 30,000 clients yearly on its three community centers, and free HIV treatment to around 2,500 Filipinos living with HIV. The organization bridges the gaps in the HIV continuum of care by scaling up HIV testing, linking diagnosed persons with treatment and counseling, and creating a community that has led to reduced loss of life.
Moreover, Pagtakhan empowers the LGBT community and the Filipino youth to recognize their own value and self-worth, take care of their health and well-being, and in the process, join in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Political, Legal and Governmental Affairs
As a leading global expert on security issues across Asia, Richard Javad Heydarian earned a spot in this year’s JCI TOYP.
Heydarian primarily uses his communication skills -writing - for Filipinos to further understand the country’s geopolitical and national issues in an effort to influence a better socioeconomic and political thinking of the Philippine society.
Along with writing renowned publications including How Capitalism Failed the Arab World and most recently The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy, Heydarian serves as a non-partisan policy advisor and socially-engaged scholar to explore the most pressing political and socioeconomic challenges of our time.
Heydarian has written around 1000 articles and a common resource person by leading local and international media outlets.
Through these regular media engagements, Heydarian was able to inform not only the Filipinos but all citizens of the world, and raise consciousness about the key challenges facing the world for a more constructive national and international dialogue, inspiring a new generation of leaders who will push boundaries to create positive and lasting change for a better Philippines and a better world.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
