Advocacy Work
This is where my heart is the happiest and most comfortable.
As a child, my parents spent much of their free time raising money and awareness to help the villages back home in the Philippines. They were often teaming up with fellow Filipinos from our region and forming non-profit organizations to help create better opportunities for the less fortunate. I grew up in a climate where our weekends were always full, from Friday night to Sunday night, packing medicine kits, going to fundraiser events, organizational meetings, and sometimes just having fun with our community. Because my family was constantly involved, it has always been in my blood to use my talents to help a greater cause.
Below are some avenues in which I translated my talents into ways to help communities, near and abroad.
Clean Water Relief
Issue:
On December 16-17 of 2022, Super Typhoon Rai killed up to a total of 410, left at least 1,261 people injured and many missing through the midsection of the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of people across the nation were affected. Many left homeless with little to no access to food, medicine, and/or clean water. While most of the damage hit the areas of Siargao Island, Cebu, and Bohol, our home island of Negros was also damaged and was receiving very little aid with most of the help respectfully going to other areas.
Solution:
We (DigitalCLIQ) wanted to send money out to an organization that would directly help with our area but with bigger NGOs and non-profit organizations, we weren’t sure where our money was exactly going. Instead I created 2 avenues in which to help the villages back in my home region of Negros Occidental. Our first avenue was with my cousin Katy and her water refilling station that she owns in Bacolod. In conjunction with people in her community who were sending out aid to local residents, we sent out several water jugs through her. The other avenue directly helped those in the village that my parents live in. With the help of their local water refilling station and stores, my parents helped to distribute aid across their area. Through the help of friends and family as well as Charity Streams on The Geekish Network, together we raised almost $4100 and have had 7 deliveries of water and/or food packs. With the remaining $2400, we are sending 100 families a waterproof device that can charge phones, has a flashlight and lantern, and can be charged 3 different ways (solar, electricity, or hand crank).
To see more about this cause, go to DigitalCLIQ.com/cleanwater.
Bayani Tour
Issue:
Many younger Filipino Americans aren’t familiar with how beautiful and fun the Philippines is, how poverty deeply affects the people there, and how easily they can help.
Solution:
Our small team of 4 created an immersion tour with the help of Travel International Group and Gawad Kalinga USA. The immersion tour took the group to a destination to see the beauty, then to a Gawad Kalinga village to see how the NGO has aided and empowered families in impoverished areas within the Philippines. We were able to do 2 trips, bringing Filipino Americans to their homeland and bringing some aid and awareness to Gawad Kalinga’s villages.
Black Book Sessions
Issue:
Kids who aren’t involved in something worthwhile, they tend to get into trouble or hang out with crowds that aren’t productive.
Solution:
Black Book Sessions is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to empowering and inspiring young creative minds through hands-on community events. These events are (were) held 3 to 4 times a year, bringing the community together to uplift the youth through art.
NextDayBetter x Doctors Without Borders
Issue:
Pneumonia is a the #1 cause of death for kids aged 1-5 in the Philippines
Solution:
NextDayBetter teamed up with Doctors Without Borders to help get pneumonia vaccines to kids in the Philippines. I helped NextDayBetter build a social media campaign to raise awareness and get signatures on a petition to aid the cause.
We Are One Filipino (WAOF)
Issue:
Filipinos are made up of segments of different backgrounds, dialects, generations, all living in different countries.
Solution:
WAOF was created to unite. Through all the different segments of our community between the generations, the dialects, the countries that we are in. We hosted a summit, held social events, and also consulted for the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.
My Heart is in the Philippines
Issue:
For so many reasons, the Philippines deserves our love and attention. While the people are loving and hospitable, and the Philippines is a beautiful and fun place to be and/or visit, so many different issues ail the Philippines.
Solution:
We initiated a Typhoon Relief Drive to aid the island of Pitogo where our teammate’s friends lived, whom she met during the filming of Gwapa Film. Since delivering these items to this particular island would be a challenge, we had the boxes delivered to my parents in Negros Occidental and when I arrived there at the end of 2013, I was able to deliver them to the southeastern most tip of our island (Dumaguete) and had the boxes ferried to Bohol where they would be fetched by our project partners and they then would take to Pitogo themselves. We also planned on a viral photo campaign where people could do an overlay with the MHIITP logo and explain why their heart is in the Philippines but unfortunately our team became too busy to carry on with this project. The intention was there however the initiative to continue was not. I still love this idea and the logo!