KILLING THE SOUL: “SIRA ULO KA!”

Every time I look back at those times I was sleeping in filthy detention cells, cockroach-rat-mosquito infested streets and parked jeepneys and then imagine that suddenly someone would tell me that I would one day become a rehab Center Director, a Drug Abuse Resource Speaker and an Executive Director of a foundation for recovery, I would only give one answer, “SIRA ULO KA”! (You are crazy!)

For at that moment I felt truly hopeless and would consider it a very sick joke. But God had other plans for me and after my unforgettable “OJT” I am fulfilling them as my way of repaying HIM for my salvation.

Receiving this “OUTSTANDING MAN OF 2022” award is priceless and humbling. But, I am just one of the many who are living proof that no substance abuser in recovery should be judged, condemned of even killed. We are good people who just made wrong choices like every non-addict and we should be given a chance to rebuild our lives.

Except for a very small percentage, we are NOT dangerous criminals as stereotyped by society. We are some family’s “loved one”. And whoever is “sinless” can cast a huge rock at me!

Thank you Richard Hiñola, Founder of BEST Magazine, and the yearly “Philippine Fashion Circle Awards” and the “Outstanding Men and Women of the Year” awards. This is for recognition of my advocacy and my relentless fight against drug abuse.

As Executive Director of BATTLE AGAINST IGNORANCE FOUNDATION (BAI), I ask for your help and support for all those who are broken, lonely, hurting and wounded out there. They need our compassion and not condemnation.

Because TOGETHER WE ARE BETTER! Thank you Jesus

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