Puerto Galera

I first heard of Puerto Galera from the early 2000 indie movie, Duda (Doubt).  Some of the scenes were shot there, and from what I saw, it’s similar to the gay scene in Malate. When I transferred to Manila in 2009, I’ve been curious to go to these places.

It was Holy Week in 2011 when I finally went on a trip to Puerto Galera. I worked on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday in order to secure rest days on Saturday and Sunday. My gay friends were already there as early as Thursday, and I brought along a female friend when we went there on Saturday morning.

How to Go There

Puerto Galera, by the way, is the northwesternmost municipality in Oriental Mindoro. If you are travelling from Manila, you take a JAC Liner bus (located near Taft MRT station) that will take you to Batangas pier, which is the last stop of the bus. Travel time is around two hours, and bus fare is less than 200 pesos.

There are actually four major points of Puerto Galera: Sabang Pier, Muelle Pier, Balatero Pier, and the most popular of them all, the White Beach. Secure a ticket from any of the shipping companies there that traverse to White Beach. Travel time is around 45 minutes.

But of course, the two paragraphs above are common knowledge to the LGBT community. And a friend once told me, “Every gay man has gone, at least once, to Puerto Galera.” I disagree a bit, but then again, for sure, every gay man has heard of Puerto Galera, or heard personal accounts from their gay friends what happens in the place especially during Holy Week.

White Beach

When we arrived in White Beach, the very first thing I noticed is how thick the crowd is. I didn’t expect that the stretch of the beach is not that long, but the hotels and inns are just too many. I actually thought of it as a mini-Boracay: very popular which makes it very crowded, which in turn makes the stretch of the beach appear shorter.

There are also a lot of restaurants there. Some offer steeply-priced food while others serve budget meals. Activities that you can do there include banana boat ride, volleyball, frisbee, skim board, jet ski, island hop, or simply, people watching. My group even tried the famous Mindoro Sling together with our lunch. Hehehe!

Hot bodies abound Puerto Galera, mostly males. Hahaha! At least, all the hard work in the gym paid off for those who flaunted what they have. To which a part of me decided to hit the gym when I return to Manila (I jogged instead, but still did not achieve the Galera bodies of others. Hehehe!).

I was also surprised to pass by a kiosk which offers free HIV testing (sadly, our group did not pay attention to it). And at night, some advertisers gave away condoms.

Galera Nights

We slept mid afternoon after the late lunch since the Mindoro Sling got us a bit buzzed. We had a quick dinner immediately after we woke up, and I couldn’t understand the excitement of my companions as we head to the beach front for the night party.

Well, I finally understood it as we arrived in the beach front. The bars and restaurants had their own shows, from spectacular fire dancers to impersonators to live bands, but the crowd seemed to be united as they danced on the beach to the fusion of loud music from the bars.  Galera just explodes at night time! People party there like it’s the end of the world. They danced on top of tables, hugged and kissed openly, and chattered over Mindoro Sling. It was crazy and fun at the same time!

In Manila, bars are usually closed in observance of the Holy Week. In Puerto Galera, it’s totally different. I was feeling quite ambivalent as I have been accustomed to traditional Holy Week celebration especially back in the province, and somehow, I felt that the festivity is not quite right. But then again, times have probably indeed changed. I believe that Galera is about openness and acceptance.

Love

Just like Malate, Puerto Galera has been the venue for the LGBT community to be themselves. There are no pretensions, no masks, and no need to hide. Love is everywhere in Galera: love among friends, and those in relationships. The energy is uplifting in Galera. It gave me a sense of oneness with the crowd. The music drowned all my worries. Galera made me real.

Note: the photos from this blog entry were taken last April 2011 and September 2012.

Take The Test Project is a registered, non-profit organization whose advocacy focuses on HIV education and testing. They also offer free services on HIV counseling and testing, syphilis testing, referral to HIV hubs and support groups, and training on STI, HIV, and AIDS education.


What:     Batch 11 of Basic STI, HIV, and AIDS Education Training

When:    9AM to 7PM, September 22, 2012 (Saturday)

Where:   Positive Action Foundation Philippines, Inc. (PAFPI)
                2613 Dian Street, Malate, Manila


Please contact Mr. Jay Young at 0917-8909131 for details and other registration information. Visit also their facebook account at facebook.com/takethetest

Why blog? My dear friend Marvin, who unfortunately passed away recently, encouraged me to start my own blog as it was also his way of coping with stress and sadness that he felt after his diagnosis. Together with creating my anonymous twitter and facebook accounts, blogging seems to be an effective way of communicating with fellow HIV-positive individuals, and at the same time, help the newly-diagnosed sort the shared feelings we have with being HIV-positive. My blog is still a work in progress since I do not post entries as often as I wanted to, but I really try to provide useful information too with the hope of educating readers about HIV, especially its prevention.

Marvin was happy to inform me that he was writing for PositiveLite.com, a Canadian online HIV magazine. I was able to read his contributions there, and was impressed on how he articulated himself. He encouraged me to write for the magazine too, but I had second thoughts since I have a problem with composition.

However, several weeks ago, I read a tweet, calling for those who are interested to become guest contributors for PositiveLite.com. I tried my luck. A part of me wanted to reach out to people from other nations. Fortunately, I was invited to contribute an article. A million thanks to the wonderful people behind PositiveLite.com

For my first offering, I submitted an introduction about my personal journey with HIV.

I am Pinoy Positive, a young man from the Philippines living with HIV. Aside from running the halls of the hospital for more than three years as an ICU nurse, I also run half-marathons in road and trail races. I was diagnosed March 2012 just as my career in the healthcare industry was about to take off. I was set to work abroad, but HIV did not permit me to do so.

Here's the LINK to my story.

And it is also featured in Daily Love.

Five months after leaving Manila, I finally returned, but only for a few days. My aunt booked me a flight with her to help fetch my cousin who recently took her board exam.

A lot of things entered my mind as I was on the plane. First, I know I got the disease in Manila. Until now, I can’t pinpoint who I got the disease from. And to be truthful, yes, I engaged in random hook-ups when I was still living alone. Worse than that, I neglected to practice safe sex in some occasions.

Shortly after diagnosis, I actually tried to search in facebook and another gay social networking site the people I had sex with in the past. I wanted to know the person who might have infected me. It came to my knowledge that an ex-boyfriend died of liver abscess this January, and another one I dated died of meningitis last October 2011 (click HERE).

Coincidentally, on my second day in Manila, while riding in a train going to Ayala, a Chinese-looking guy beside the door caught my attention. I stared at him trying to recall where I met him, and he stared back. Well, his height was a giveaway; I had sex with him before. Although we did it several times, they were all protected sex. But why did I see worry in his eyes? Or maybe paranoia was just playing tricks on me. We were still staring at each other when I headed towards the door of the train. We were beside each other, catching glances, but there were no exchange of words.

Is knowing who infected me really that important? I had protected sex with him, but why worry?

Maybe some questions are better left unanswered. I'm guilty of dwelling too much in my not-so-distant past.

Surely, there’s still pain in my heart. I had a promising career in Manila, and I was two weeks short to going abroad until I was diagnosed HIV-positive before my departure date. One night of sex turned into a lifetime of regret.

Me, working as a nurse here is purely accidental. I was visiting an ex-bf in Manila when he heard from his friend that a new hospital is going to open soon, and then he encouraged me to submit my resume. And that is how the story of how I worked for more than three years in that hospital started.

Manila was my stepping stone. I built my dreams here. As my workmates started to resign and eventually landed jobs abroad, I started to solidify my qualification by passing several international exams. I was a good nurse, but not a good employee. But eventually, I attempted and successfully gained my manager’s trust and confidence. My promotion came at the time that my visa abroad also arrived. And I chose the latter. Of course, one of my dreams is to work abroad, and secondly, I want to provide a better life for my family.

But because of HIV, I lost both ---- my job abroad, and my work in Manila. I lied to my family why I wasn’t able to go abroad. I isolated myself from my friends and co-workers. I went back to my province, and made sure to have no, or at the very least, minimal contact with people I know there. Up until today, my family thinks that I went home to rest since my papers abroad is still being processed. And they like it that way knowing that work abroad can be very tiring and embracing a foreign culture is difficult.

My plan of going back to Manila in search for work is nearing. I have mixed feelings. I’m a new and changed person now. Well, mostly new point of view since I already know my limitations and the purpose of me going back. It’s much clearer to me now. I still have this fear of what awaits me there, but I hope I’d still be as motivated and dedicated as I was in my previous job. Fingers crossed. Manila, be good to me please the next time I return.