The Philippines is considered to be a low HIV-prevalence country, but its epidemic is considered to be hidden and growing. Ever since the first AIDS case was reported in 1984, the prevalence among adults there has remained under 0.1%, according to the national Department of Health (Philippines DOH 2005) . From 1984 to 2009, the total number of reported cases was 3,654 (Philippines DOH 2009), but this figure may be inaccurate due to underreporting, as the United Nations estimates 6,000-11,000 cases (UNAIDS 2008). Table 1 shows the annual number of HIV and AIDS cases with combined numbers for 1984 to 2004, and annual numbers by major routes of transmission from 2005 to January 2009. Heterosexuals account for the highest number of cases in the Philippines; the second highest risk group is men who have sex with men (MSM)/bisexuals. The number of heterosexual transmissions has remained fairly stable during this period (about 137 new cases per year), but we see a significant and annually rising increase among MSM and bisexuals. According to the National Epidemiology Center at the Department of Health, 65 new HIV cases were reported in January 2009. This is the highest number ever reported in a month in the Philippines, and represents a 63% increase over the 40 cases reported in January 2008. Young people aged 15-24 are the age group most vulnerable to HIV infection in the Philippines (Alesna-Llanto and Raymundo 2005) , and sexual contact (at 89%) is the leading mode of transmission (Philippines DOH 2009). According to the Philippines National AIDS Council (PNAC 2008) , the prevalence of HIV is 0.08% among the populations identified as most at risk: registered and non-registered female sex workers (FSWs) and their clients, along with MSMs, and IDUs. However, consistent condom use among high-risk groups was low (under 30%) according to a 2003 Behavioural Sentinel Surveillance (PNAC 2003) .