Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 18) — Marinduque pharmacist Arshie Larga said he saw TikTok content creation as an opportunity to educate his audience about health.
Larga told CNN Philippines’ The Final Word on Tuesday that he started creating educational content on TikTok during the pandemic – a time when most Filipinos were scared to go out, and had many questions on various medications.
But other than educating his followers and customers, Larga said he also wanted to uplift his profession by giving reliable information through his TikTok videos.
“To be honest, medyo mababa ‘yung tingin sa mga pharmacist. Akala nila taga tinda lang kami ng gamot [To be honest, pharmacists are looked down upon a bit. People think we just sell medicine],” he said.
“But with content creation, napapakita ko na hindi lang kami taga tinda ng gamot [I can prove we are not just medicine sellers] but we can also provide reliable information about medicine,” he added.
Larga shared that he is careful when uploading content, especially in relation to medicine intake of his customers.
He admitted as well that there are a lot of requests from pharmaceutical companies to endorse their medications but he doesn’t accept their proposals instantly.
“Laging nasa isip ko na pharmacist ako muna bago ako naging content creator. Ayoko naman na mag-create ng content just for clout and money,” he said.
[Translation: I always put in mind that I’m a pharmacist first before I became a content creator. I don’t want to create content just for clout and money.]
He also called on fellow TikTok influencers to be responsible for every information they post on various social media platforms.
Larga recently received the top award as TikTok Creator of the Year for consistently educating his fans on topics like medicine and healthcare.
