Ms. Aremm Castrillo [She/Her]
testMNL Project Officer
HIV & AIDS Support House (HASH)
Philippines
Aremm Castrillo is the testMNL Project Officer at the HIV & AIDS Support House (HASH) in Metro Manila. Since joining the CODE Strategies project in August 2024, Aremm has built the testMNL campaign from the ground up — from community photoshoots to city-level partnerships that expand access to HIV testing and PrEP.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
“Being directly involved in service delivery as well as having the ability to give a platform to communities that deserves attention”What do you find most difficult about what you do?
“Seeing and hearing the stories of individuals that were neglected in terms of care”
Aremm came on board as testMNL Project Officer in August 2024 and quickly turned a start-up campaign into one of the most active community-led demand generation initiatives in the region. With limited resources — the team famously opted to “beg, steal, and borrow” for its first photoshoots and merchandise — Aremm and colleagues produced a full campaign identity, involving two photographers and fourteen community models affiliated with HASH.
Milestones Aremm has helped deliver include:
- Establishing formal partnerships for testMNL, including MOUs with SAIL Makati and SAIL Caloocan to strengthen referral systems, an agreement with HRPEC following an Electoral Forum, community-based screening training with PANTAY, and a MoU with Positibong Paigunio at the Pasig Trans Youth Summit.
- Rolling out campaigns such as #TDOV (Transgender Day of Visibility) week, #PopUP-PrEP bar activations, #GetTested, #PrEPtected and #fromPilltoPower, alongside campus outreach at FEU and UP Diliman.
- Supporting HASH’s community-based screening and self-testing services, which tested 4,047 people (92 reactive) in April–June 2025 alone, with social media reach of over 536,000 users.
As a transgender woman, living with HIV and community leader, Aremm’s work is deeply rooted in lived experience. Having witnessed the barriers that many LGBTQIA+ people face in accessing respectful and affirming healthcare, Aremm has dedicated her career to making HIV prevention services more accessible, stigma-free, and community-centered. She believes that meaningful change happens when communities are trusted not only as beneficiaries, but as leaders and partners in designing solutions.
One of Aremm’s proudest achievements has been demonstrating that even with modest resources, community passion and collaboration can produce measurable public health impact. Beyond campaign numbers, she values the moments when individuals choose to get tested, start PrEP, or openly discuss their health because they felt represented, respected, and safe through the initiatives she helped create.
The work is not without challenges. Persistent HIV-related stigma, misinformation, resource limitations, and the continuing inequities faced by transgender people and other key populations remain significant barriers. Balancing ambitious program targets with the realities of community work requires resilience, adaptability, and constant innovation.
What keeps Aremm motivated is the belief that every person reached represents an opportunity to change a life. Whether through a conversation at a community event, a social media campaign, or a new partnership, she sees every interaction as a chance to empower someone to take control of their health and wellbeing.
By 2030, Aremm hopes to contribute to a Philippines where HIV prevention services are fully integrated into accessible, community-led healthcare systems, where telehealth and digital innovations eliminate barriers to care, and where LGBTQIA+ communities—particularly transgender Filipinos—can access health services without fear of discrimination. She also hopes to continue mentoring future community leaders, ensuring that the next generation is equipped to sustain and expand the progress achieved today.
About the project
About the organisation behind the project
