IN EVERY rare illness, even cancer, when hearing the news from a doctor, one would think the days ahead would be his last.
Stella, a mother of two, did not know that her son was already suffering from Human Immunodeficiency Virus- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV-Aids) when their relatives told her the news. As a mother, she could only accept what has happened and support her son in his road to recovery from all the complications of the illness like tuberculosis, meningitis, pneumonia, and diarrhea.
After living for some time in Manila, Stella's son came home to Misamis Oriental. It turned out that her son is already in the third stage of HIV when they finally decided to consult a doctor because of his body's weakness. Although hurt by the fact that she was not the first one to which her son confided with his condition, Stella decided that the best remedy to the situation, aside from his treatments, was acceptance.
She, however, looked at her family's bond with despair. She knew that ever since his childhood, her son always had a cold relationship with his father primarily because of the fact that he was homosexual. Hence, communicating with one another was not a common practice within their family, especially between father and son.
Aside from him being a person living with HIV (PLHIV), breaking this news to her husband was another challenge for Stella. She knew that given the situation, she had to be strong on her own in order to continue guiding her son through what she thinks is a challenged to her family.
Many times throughout his therapies, Stella's son almost wanted to give up on his medications. Time was of outmost importance in his situation and his multiple sicknesses and all the medicines burdened him so much within the process.
"'Ma, basig kuhaon na ko sa Ginoo, dili na nako makaya...' Sakit kaayo sa ako, isip usa ka inahan, nag tan-aw sa iyang anak na himalatyon. Nahadlok ko. Nahadlok ko na basin mauna siya sa ako, nahadlok ko na basin ako ang mulubong sa iya."
This is an excerpt from Stella's monologue when the character finally reached her story's climax. Apparently, the sickness not only slowly weakened her son's body but also his morale even their faith for his recovery.
However, as her son still showed complete adherence to the doctor's medications, slowly by slowly he regained his health. Stella could not hide her happiness when she sees her son slowly coming back to the way he was. In addition to that, when they told her husband, he gave the complete opposite of how they thought he would react. He calmly accepted the situation and joined his wife in supporting their son.
Today, Stella is happy that her son has fully recovered from all the HIV's complications and is living his life happily in this city. This is one of the real life stories of people involved with cases of HIV-Aids in Misamis Oriental.
Along with four other stories, "Lima: Pagdawat" is this year's monologue theatrical presentation by the Northern Mindanao Aids Advocates (NorMAA).
Lima is a collection of five real stories of people living and affected by HIV and Aids. These stories are turned into individual monologues which will be portrayed by NorMAA's members. It had its first launching started last year at the Rodelsa Hall in Liceo de Cagayan University.
The play was received by the audience with a mixture of happiness, sadness and respect for the stories portrayed.
Stephen Christian Quilacio, production manager of Lima productions said that they chose a theatrical performance to forward their advocacy on HIV-Aids because it is a fresh attack on the subject.
With art and theater, the lives of the people living with HIV are put on a microscopic level eliminating the common misconceptions about the lives of these people. According to the production staff, they started with about sixty stories of people in Misamis Oriental who are PLHIVs or their families. They came up with five which will be presented in "Pagdawat".
This year the other characters of the Lima Pagdawat presentation will be played by LIMA Production - HIV awareness advocates, Fritzie Estoque, Karl Owen Sayson, Dy Poe, Christy Bacoto, Shaun Pilapil, Dennis Flores, Elton Batinga, and Iris Dy Lagria. It will be directed by Maia Nery Fortich Poblete.
In an interview, Fritzie Estoque who was chosen to play Stella said that Lima hopes that more and more people will come to their presentation and be educated about HIV and AIDS and how to battle the discrimination against PLHIVs.
"It doesn't matter if Misamis Oriental comes as the place with the most number of cases, we do not need to pin point that. What matters is we are here to support, do something about it, and perfectly eradicate society's wrong ideas about PLHIVs," Estoque said.
This year, Lima titled their monologue performance "Pagdawat" because they believe that the best way through HIV-Aids is acceptance.
"As a PLHIV, if you accept your situation, then that will push you to be compliant to everything that you must do in order to survive it. If you continue to be in denial, the people, your loved ones or even the experts around you will never be able to help you. It starts with yourself," Estoque added.
The Lima presentation will take one hour and thirty minutes which will be held at the Liceo de Cagayan University audio-visual room on December 2.
Tickets are donation-based with of minimum of P100. Shares of these donations will proceed to NorMAA and the shelter for People Living with HIV.
Quilacio added that while they are expecting the general public to watch the presentation, they hope that some students will be encouraged to go to the event.
"This is a part of NorMAA's advocacy to erase the negative stigma about PLHIVs and awareness about HIV-Aids itself. It is good that students, with a companion of course, can come to watch us," Quilacio said.
Aside from NorMAA, other oragnizations who are involved in this monologue presentation include the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, the Iglesia Filipina Indepiendiente, the Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro AIDS Network, Alagad Mindanao, and Department of Health in Northern Mindanao.