Survivors Speak

ICONS OF HOPE: Sheilla Gagui

ICONS OF HOPE: Sheilla Gagui

Sheilla Gagui Triathlete “When you keep fighting cancer, life becomes your biggest victory.” One of the hardest challenges I faced was fatigue. My family and I would go to the park so the kids could bike while I ran. In the early stages of chemo, I could still run...

ICONS OF HOPE: Chuchu Madrigal

ICONS OF HOPE: Chuchu Madrigal

Susana “Chuchu” Madrigal Chairperson, Consuelo “Chito” Madrigal Foundation, Inc. “We survivors have a shared sympathy and compassion.” We each have a different reaction when we’re diagnosed with breast cancer. But no matter what our reaction towards the diagnosis is,...

ICONS OF HOPE: Christina Dy

ICONS OF HOPE: Christina Dy

Christina Dy Visual Artist, Dancer, Founder and Creative Director of Polecats Manila “I am now living life slower, but more intentional.” Instead of making every minute count and optimizing my life, I’ve shifted my mindset to living a slower life and doing less. If I...

ICONS OF HOPE: Ina Vergel de Dios

ICONS OF HOPE: Ina Vergel de Dios

Ina Vergel de Dios Board of Trustees Member, ICanServe Foundation “You will find a way through.” I had my first bout with cancer when I was only 27. I didn’t know much about breast cancer then. I did not even know anyone with breast cancer, for that matter. There...

ICONS OF HOPE: Cecile Guidote-Alvarez

ICONS OF HOPE: Cecile Guidote-Alvarez

Cecile Guidote-Alvarez Founder, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Producer & Host, Balintataw radio program (DZRH) Director, Earthsavers Dreams Ensemble – UNESCO Artist for Peace “Age is not a hindrance to learning and healing.” I had breast cancer...

ICONS OF HOPE: Libet Virata

ICONS OF HOPE: Libet Virata

Elizabeth “Libet” C. Virata Chairperson, Fund Raising Committee, ICanServe Foundation Chairperson, Helping Women and Others (HWAO) Foundation “My life hasn’t changed; it’s my awareness of life that has changed.” When I was still in my teens, I was struck by the...

ICONS OF HOPE: Jo-Ann Camacho

ICONS OF HOPE: Jo-Ann Camacho

Jo-Ann Camacho “Our lives are always worth the fight!” I thought I was immortal and will never get sick. However, I found out that I was vulnerable as well. I was humbled tremendously. I was on vacation around October 2023 when I felt a hard lump in my right breast...

ICONS OF HOPE: Marge Jorillo

ICONS OF HOPE: Marge Jorillo

Marge Jorillo Vice President for Corporate Communications, GSIS Board of Trustees Member and Treasurer, ICanServe Foundation “Totoo pala, your life truly does flash before you.” I found out I had breast cancer in May 2005, thanks to the reddish brown discharge I had...

ICONS OF HOPE: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivors

ICONS OF HOPE: Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivors

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) Survivors Gina Torres Evangelista Jhalyn Mancenido Siwa “To our newly-diagnosed sisters, know that you are not alone.” GINA TORRES EVANGELISTA, Certified Aromatherapist I was diagnosed in March 2009 with Stage IIIC Triple Negative...

ICONS OF HOPE: Bettina Aboitiz

ICONS OF HOPE: Bettina Aboitiz

Bettina Aboitiz “I almost forget I ever had cancer.” In 2014, during a routine screening, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I didn’t have a lump, no pain, no symptoms. It was just another annual check-up. But that mammogram caught something I never would have found...