Diagnosis: Chronic silence. Symptoms: Misinformation, shame, and a deep-rooted fear of pleasure. Treatment? Dr. Rica Cruz. The doctor is in, and she’s prescribing a heavy dose of sexual liberation
This is an excerpt from the MEGA March 2025 Passions and Pursuits feature story
Sex. A single syllable that came make people squirm, laugh nervously, or look away in forced ignorance. But no Dr. Rica Cruz. She doesn’t just say it—she owns it, studies it, and fights for everyone, especially women, to understand it. And if you think she’s just another expert in a lab coat preaching from a textbook, think again.
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When she walked into the studio for this shoot, she wasn’t just another talking head in a polished interview. She was a force. Dressed in a black shirt with bold red letters spelling out “I AM UNPRUDE,” she made her message clear before she even spoke. Between takes, she tossed out sex advice like party favors, swapped stories with the team, and laughed without inhibition — fully, unapologetically herself.
That’s the thing about Dr. Rica. She’s not here to be delicate. She’s here to start a revolution.
But before she became the country’s foremost advocate for sex positivity, before she built an entire platform to educate and liberate, she was just another young Filipina struggling under the weight of silence, shame, and a lack of real sex education.
“No one talked about sex,” she confesses. “No one explained it. And that made me vulnerable.” She learned the hard way just how dangerous that silence could be.
In college, after one particular night with her then-boyfriend—an encounter that wasn’t entirely her choice but rather an ultimatum—Rica found herself in excruciating pain. The culprit? Swollen Bartholin glands, a painful condition triggered by infection, stress, or trauma. She ended up in the ER, in agony, in shock, and most of all, unprepared.
That moment stuck with her. Not just the pain, but the realization: She wasn’t alone. How many other women were suffering in silence? How many were making choices without fully understanding them?
That was the beginning. The moment she knew she never wanted another girl to feel as lost as she had.
Today, Dr. Rica is more than a sexologist—she’s the first Filipino Board-Certified Diplomate in Clinical Sexology and the first Filipino Consulting Editor for the Journal of Sex Research. Her app,Unprude, is changing the way Filipinos access sex education and therapy. She’s built a career breaking taboos, and in return, she’s been called a pok-pok (whore), a corrupter of values, and a danger to Filipino morality.
She’s been threatened, censored, and told—again and again—to shut up. But all of it just proves her point.
THE COST OF SILENCE
Let’s be honest: sex is still a topic drenched in secrecy, especially for women. Girls are raised to be mahinhin—modest, pure. They’re taught to keep their legs closed, their desires hidden, their questions buried under layers of Catholic guilt and whispered myths. Meanwhile, boys? Encouraged to explore, conquer, and perform. The double standard is so deeply ingrained that many don’t even see it. But Dr. Rica does—because, in the bigger picture, this isn’t just about sex. It’s about survival.
“When we don’t talk about sex, we create a culture of silence,” she says. “And that silence? It leads to misinformation, unwanted pregnancies, unhealthy relationships—even sexual violence.”
That silence, the one we so carefully preserve, has devastating consequences.
Read more of Dr. Rica Cruz’s mission to make sex education and therapy accessible to everyone in MEGA’s March 2025 issue, now available on Readly, Magzter, Press Reader and Zinio.
Photographed by ROJ MAGUYOM. Art Direction BRIE VENTURA. Sittings Editor STEF JUAN. Styling JRO ALARCIO. Makeup VHIO VILLARICA. Hairstyling WAZZY SALIH. Shot on location STUDIO SEGUI
