IN his capacity as the committee on health chair, Cagayan de Oro City Councilor Paolo Nicolo Gaane actively participated in the AIDS candlelight memorial this year.
The annual event is a global grassroots event held every third Sunday of May to honor lives lost to AIDS-related illnesses and show solidarity with people living with HIV.
During the observance in 2026 held inside Limketkai mall, the organizers also unveiled a localized version of the memorial quilt which is called hinulibis.
The idea for the memorial quilt was conceived in 1985 to commemorate the 1978 assassination of gay activist Harvey Milk.
During the commemoration march, organizer Cleve Jones invited participants to write the names of loved ones lost to AIDS-related illnesses on placards.
As the names covered the building, the display resembled a vast patchwork of quilt – an image that inspired the creation of what would become the AIDS memorial quilt.
The localized version is a montage of shirts worn by Kagay-anons who have died of AIDS-related illnesses.
It stands not only as a memorial to those lost to the AIDS pandemic but also as a powerful celebration of their lives and legacies.
