PRide (in the name of love)

To put the “PR” in Pride—that’s the guiding principle of local communications agency Castro Communications, which, first and foremost, wants to erase the stigma that still hounds members of the LGBTIQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, intersex and queer) community here in the country.

While gender discrimination is not as strong within the public relations industry, Janlee Dungca, Castro’s public relations (PR) director and cofounder, says that generally, Filipinos are merely tolerant of the LGBTIQ+ community—not accepting.

“It’s important to note that there is still a lot of educating to be done within the PR industry—the roots of Pride, diverse gender experiences, SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity, expression), the legal, health, socioeconomic, psychological and social issues associated with being LGBTIQ+, how to be true allies and a lot more,” Dungca says. “These things need to be taught in order for everyone to better understand what our community is going through, and this applies not just to the PR industry but to all [professions].”

Castro Communications is named after the Castro District in San Francisco, one of the United States’ first LGBT neighborhoods. The company is the brainchild of Martin Castañeda, managing director, who spent his early professional years working for the corporate communications arm of L’Oreal Philippines. Dungca, on the other hand, is a former events professional. The two initially built Castro’s lifestyle and luxury portfolio, partnering with companies such as Branded Lifestyle Inc., distributor of Ray-Ban and most luxury eyewear brands in the country; the L’Oreal Philippines flagship, with its lineup of successful brands such as L’Oreal Paris, Kerastase, L’Oreal Professionnel, NYX Cosmetics and Kiehl’s; as well as Nivea, Levi’s, Guess, SM and Celeteque.

In 2014, the pair welcomed frequent collaborator Lui Castañeda into the agency full-time as Castro’s accounts director. Since then, the agency has expanded its client base to include household FMCG brands such as Toblerone, Cadbury, Cheez Whiz, Eden Cheese, Oreo, Belvita, Tang and Berocca, and has partnered with some of the most successful celebrities and content creators in their campaigns and events. As they grew the business, the trio also became recognized for their pro-LGBTIQ+ stance, especially since they themselves are members of the community (Dungca, for one, is a member of LoveYourself, a nonprofit organization that aims to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment, especially toward members of the LGBTIQ+ community).

“We conduct talks to educate people, but the hardest challenge to overcome would be separating religious beliefs from legal issues, such as LGBTIQ+ people getting equal rights as non-LGBTIQ people, and having legal protection from gender-based discrimination,” Dungca says. “Some people discriminate against LGBTIQ+ people on the basis of their religion, which shouldn’t be the case because there is no one religion, and some people aren’t religious to begin with. We live in a world with very diverse inhabitants and we should all practice acceptance and treat each other equally.”

To make a difference at least in their industry, Castro Communications chooses to collaborate with members of their community.

The agency, in its seven years of operations, has commissioned suppliers, and worked with LGBTIQ+ groups and individuals. They also hold gender sensitivity and equality talks for their employees.

Outside the Philippines, Castro has expanded to Singapore, with an office headed by married gay couple Alvin Miranda and Jappy Reyes, both established marketing professionals. Locally, one of the agency’s most valued members is Niko Pedro, a proud gay man who does consultancy work for the company, and consults as well for a local news network.

Castro Communications’ way of conducting business is an example of how The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce hopes all companies will operate here in the country. Ronn Astillas, the organization’s executive director, says the Chamber hopes to influence not just its members but also the entire value chain to adopt SOGIE-compliant policies.

The Chamber has its own initiative to achieve this goal: the #Zeroto100PH campaign, which began last year after the group found, through its first Philippine Corporate SOGIE Diversity and Inclusiveness Index, that of the 100 firms they surveyed, none of the Philippine-based companies and public sector agencies had policies that explicitly reference “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” and/or “gender expression.”

“The BPO (business process outsourcing) [industries], we are happy to note, are very gender-inclusive; they are safe havens for the community,” Astillas says. “But what about the more traditional industries, like construction, banking, telecommunications? We’d like to look into those.”

The #Zeroto100PH campaign also represents the Chamber’s membership target for this year.

Astillas says he is already in talks with different companies, and has been getting mixed reactions whenever he discusses SOGIE workplace policies.

“There’s this one company—I was talking to them, asking, can we look into your SOGIE policies, or can we help you develop them, create standards? They said, Ronn, we’re not yet delving into that. I was surprised—it’s a conglomerate—so I asked, why not? They said, we’re still addressing governance, transparency, issues on procurement. They feel it’s a secondary issue. That’s a big challenge for us. It’s not on top of their agenda,” Astillas says.

Other companies, however, have expressed their eagerness to join the Chamber, Astillas says, and were just seeking guidance on how to do so.

“[SOGIE policies] shouldn’t be an afterthought; it shouldn’t be considered only when a company feels like they’ve perfected their system,” he adds. “Even if you don’t have employees, but you have SOGIE policies, you are already telling the world that you are an equal opportunity employer, that you are diverse and inclusive. Members of the LGBT+ community would not have to think twice before joining your company.”