𝐑𝐌𝐂 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡: 𝐇𝐈𝐕/𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐒 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 “𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝”
Rizal Memorial Colleges, Inc. (RMC) hosted a crucial HIV/AIDS Symposium on November 11, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the RMC Gym Arena, operating under the theme: “𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬, 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.” The event underscored RMC’s commitment to public health by offering FREE HIV Testing & Counseling. The program, which began with official opening ceremonies and a message from 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐌. 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, followed by an inspirational address from 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐫. 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐍. 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚, was skillfully guided by Masters of Ceremony 𝐌𝐬. 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇. 𝐒𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐳 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐬. 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐞 𝐄. 𝐀𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐚, 𝐏𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫/𝐂𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.
The symposium featured two core educational sessions. The first, on HIV/AIDS, was led by 𝐌𝐫. 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐃. 𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐭, 𝐌𝐀𝐍, 𝐑𝐍, 𝐂𝐂𝐍, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐈𝐕 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫, who was introduced by 𝐌𝐫. 𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐨 𝐃𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧 (𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐏 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫). Following an intermission by the 𝐑𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬, the focus shifted to Abstinence Education. 𝐌𝐬. 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐌. 𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐨, 𝐑𝐏𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞/𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧/𝐆𝐀𝐃 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, introduced 𝐌𝐬. 𝐈𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐓. 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥, who then delivered the talk on Abstinence Education.
A subsequent intermission featuring 𝐄𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨 (Duet) preceded the highly engaging Open Forum, which was moderated by 𝐌𝐬. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐞 𝐓. 𝐂𝐚𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞. This segment provided a vital platform for student questions and dialogue with the experts. The event then concluded with the Awarding of Certificate of Appreciation by 𝐀𝐥𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐧/𝐑𝐃𝐒𝐒𝐚𝐣𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧/𝐂𝐂𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞/𝐎𝐈𝐂 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞/𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐏 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫, and a heartfelt Message of Thanks from School Nurse 𝐌𝐬. 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐓. 𝐎𝐜𝐨𝐧, 𝐑𝐍.
Overall, the symposium was a resounding success, effectively utilizing the expertise of its speakers and the organized structure of its program to inform and empower the Rizalian community on critical health and wellness issues.
