Kapatid Hunk Actor Martin Escudero hopes to promote HIV/AIDS awareness through his role on ‘Positive’

No one was more surprised than Martin Escudero himself when TV5 offered him the lead role on “Positive”, the first television drama series to focus on HIV and AIDS awareness.

“Honestly, hindi ko alam kung bakit sa akin binigay ang role,” he admitted during a recent interview with InterAksyon. “Pero nung naikwento na sa akin ang istyora, naging iba ang dating sa akin. Ngayon pa lang ako nagkaroon ng ganitong role.”

The actor, who last played a title role on TV5’s superhero comedy series, “Kapitan Awesome”, is taking a 180-degree turn on “Positive” as he plays a character that he believes could take his acting career to a new level.

“Yung character ko dito, si Carlo Santillan, isa siyang executive sa isang call center pero marami siyang pinagdaanan sa buhay. Dumating yung point na napariwara siya tapos kung kelan siya naka-recover at nagbago, dun naman niya nalaman na HIV-positive pala siya,” he revealed.

Although no stranger to challenging roles, having won Best Actor for the hit indie comedy “Zombadings1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington”, the new series presents the actor with more thespic challenges. Aside from the role itself, Martin admits that this is also the first time he will do mature scenes in his entire career.

In Carlo’s quest to determine how he got the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), it is revealed that aside from his wife played by Helga Krapf, he also had liaisons with other women from his past, played by Rufa Mae Quinto, Mercedes Cabral and Malak So Shdifat. Later, Carlo will also meet an HIV counselor played by Bianca Manalo who he may or may not have a relationship with.

Martin said that as part of their preparation for the weekly primetime series, the cast members underwent an immersion session with the AIDS Society of the Philippines whose counselors not only provided them with a better understanding of the dreaded disease but also allowed them to have close encounters with persons living with HIV or PLHIV.

“Madetalye ang show kaya hindi puwedeng mali ang impormasyon na ipapalabas namin sa show. Nung nakaharap ko ang mga taong may HIV, iba-iba ang mga kuwento nila pero hindi ko makalimutan yung emosyon sa mukha nila. Mas naging aware ako kung ano talaga ang HIV,” he later told News5.
Martin got so affected by what he experienced during the immersion session that he volunteered to be tested right there and then.
“As celebrities and role models, I think it’s important for us to set an example to everyone that we’re doing the right thing on and off-camera,” he said in explaining the rationale for his decision to be tested.

The actor hopes that the series will achieve its main objective of providing more awareness on HIV and AIDS as the prevalence of patients with the disease continues to increase at an alarming rate.

As reported by InterAksyon, the Department of Health recently recorded a significant increase of HIV positive patients in August this year with 382 cases compared to last year’s 272, a 40 percent increase.
A total of 118 deaths were reported from January to August this year while 10 deaths were reported for August alone while majority of deaths were among patients in the 25 to 29 age group, 111 were male while seven were female, the DOH stated.

Martin hopes that “Positive” can somehow help reduce, if not totally reverse this trend.
“Marami pa rin kasing hindi naiintindihan kung ano talaga yung HIV at AIDS. Sana sa pamamagitan ng palabas namin ay makatulong din kami sa kapwa natin,” he said with a tinge of optimism.


Directed by Eric Quizon and also starring Bing Loyzaga and Felix Roco, “Positive” premieres on October 17 at TV5 right after “For Love or Money”.

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