Submitted three nominations, recognized as a Finalist for the three nominations. Hard work does pay off, and yes, so is luck. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t plan this, that I didn’t manifest this since last year. Because of course it was a vision and goal from the start, to level up our Pride advocacies, make them visible, empowered yet meaningful, proud and purposeful at the same time. Touching lives isn’t enough, enablement is just a start, there has to be a movement, a standard, a long-standing inspiration. Innovation, satisfaction, and achieving long-term results are the now. The threat to our safe space is still out there and evolving, and so are we.

I knew it would be a tough journey, physically, emotionally, and financially, to lead our workplace Pride employee resource group. What was unknown to me were the sacrifices that went alongside. There is no success without sacrifice. Yet the experience, partnerships, and wisdom gained were of course all worth it.

Thank you Philippine Financial & Inter-Industry Pride (PFIP), the 2025 Philippine Bahaghari Awards committee, and the judging panel for the Finalist recognitions, it is of our greatest honor. We salute you for keeping our community stronger as ever – championing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in Philippine workplaces and beyond.

I can’t be prouder of this milestone. I thank my team for trusting my vision and leadership. Our shared passion and dedication to plan and to deliver on our advocacies inside and outside of the workplace were more than admirable, it was a fulfillment. I have so much appreciation to the other leaders who rallied behind our activities and has proved to be our Ally. We share the same vision of bringing DEIB to our colleagues, hence we are an Ally to one another, and that is worth celebrating.

This recognition is a win and celebration for the entire LGBTQ+ community and Allies. We are all leaders. We are all change-makers. We head on to a brighter future of the Pride community – dignified and respected. To the other Pride leaders championing our advocacies each and every day, here’s my message to you –

“We’ve led Pride advocacies, we’ve balanced our support to both our co-workers and the community, we’ve rallied our Allies, we continued to be tough and make things happen despite this challenging year for DEIB. Globally they keep on defacing our safe spaces and removing established rights, here locally not only they keep on denying but also twisting the truth of our basic human rights. We had enough.”

“The tide continues to rise across the globe, the threat is still out there, we get censored in social media and sometimes within our safe spaces. DEIB is not a trend, our truth and lived experiences cannot be twisted nor erased, LGBTQ+ will always be here – tough, enduring, and making things happen. Hold your head high, be proud to fight back.”

“Locally, yes we have numerous problems, we all know it. But that doesn’t mean we get to deprioritized our fight for our national legal protection, it is still our responsibility to drive awareness, it is our community’s responsibility to drive social pressure. Share the intent of our visibility observances in your social media, document and post proudly our advocacies, amplify the voices of our communities by reposting them. Let us celebrate each other.”

Stronger with Pride, Rowell

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