Community in Action: Lakan vloggers storm the streets of Pampanga

written by John Albert Pascual

The Lakan Community Center takes the HIV advocacy into the vlogging space in support of the National HIV Prevention Month 2020. In their vlog, hosts Ro- man De Guzman and Elton John Pascual take on the men on the streets of Pampanga to distribute gather insights on condom use amid the pandemic measures.

Geared with face masks and face shields , the Lakan vlog team stormed Balibago, Astro Park, Angeles City, and Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga to interview people on their perceptions of condoms. Their vlog was released during the NHPM Condom and Lube Day on August 8.

Convincing people to spare some time and partake in the interview made the vlog quite difficult at first, but that was the challenge in their purpose: Getting people to be involved, engage in the topic, and feel empowered to make safer choices in their sexual health.

In the interviews, the team saw that some don’t even use protection, there were some who were shy about it, and some even shared that they didn’t feel comfortable wearing a condom. However, one interviewee shared how important protection was especially to the LGBTQIA+ community who did not have as much accessible information on safer sex.

In the long run, the vlog set sailed smoothly with the aid of their cameraman, Mac Cabuso. Given the health threats brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization thought that people must also be equipped with the necessary knowledge to protect themselves and the people they love from HIV.

The Lakan vlog primarily aimed to spread awareness about HIV prevention, since the organization believes that condoms is one of the most effective and accessible prevention method not only HIV but for other sexually transmitted infections.