MANILA, Philippines — September 1, 2026 — “Some nights, I ate two boxes of pizza alone. Then I would run until I believed I had burned it all off, or refuse to eat for the next two days.
“I lived like this for years.
“It is one of the reasons I built Obra Health.”
From the age of 18 to 26, Filipino founder Joachim Del Castillo repeatedly found himself trapped in a cycle of bingeing, guilt and punishment.
Other nights, it was three or four packs of pancit canton. Once he started eating, it could feel impossible to stop. Afterwards, he believed he had to pay for it through extreme exercise or restriction.
“It was not discipline,” Del Castillo said. “I thought every meal had to be earned and every mistake had to be repaid.”
Now, at 26, he is launching Obra Health, a Philippine healthcare service offering personalized, clinician-led GLP-1 weight-loss treatment for eligible adults.
The company was created around a simple belief:
Filipinos should not have to choose between weight-loss care they cannot afford and products they cannot trust.
It was never as simple as “try harder”
Del Castillo tried exercising harder, eating less and starting over.
Again and again.
“My problem was not that I did not care enough,” he said. “I cared so much that I was punishing myself.”
He also saw how difficult healthy routines could be for ordinary working Filipinos.
His parents could leave home at 7 a.m. and return at 8 p.m. after work, traffic and commuting. By the time they arrived home, there was little time or energy left for exercise, meal planning or medical appointments.
The standard advice sounded simple: eat better, exercise more and be disciplined.
Real life was not.
“It is easy to tell someone to make time for their health,” Del Castillo said. “But when work and traffic take almost your entire day, where is that time supposed to come from?”
The choice should not be expensive care or questionable products
When Del Castillo studied the Philippine weight-loss market, he found people being pushed toward two difficult options.
Clinician-led GLP-1 programs could be too expensive to continue month after month. Cheaper products were widely available through social media and online sellers, but some came with unclear sourcing, limited medical oversight or labels stating that they were intended only for research.
People looking for help were effectively being asked to choose between price and trust.
Obra Health was built to close that gap.
The company is built to compete as the most affordable clinician-led GLP-1 service in the Philippines while still providing a complete patient experience.
What personalized GLP-1 treatment means
Obra patients begin with an online health assessment. A qualified clinician reviews their health history, goals, current medications and potential risk factors.
When GLP-1 treatment is medically appropriate, personalized options may include compounded semaglutide or compounded tirzepatide.
The clinician determines:
Whether GLP-1 treatment is appropriate
Which medication may be suitable
The patient’s starting dose
How the treatment should be adjusted over time
Whether additional information, laboratory tests or consultation is needed
Treatment decisions remain with the clinician. A prescription is never guaranteed, and not everyone will be eligible.
When prescribed, medication is compounded and dispensed through a pharmacy licensed by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration.
Patients also receive their required supplies, delivery coordination, refill assistance and continued support from an Obra care team.
Current GLP-1 plans, prices and eligibility information are available at www.obra.health
The founder is also an Obra patient
Del Castillo has gone through Obra’s patient process himself, including the health assessment, independent clinician review, pharmacy preparation and care-team support.
His eligibility, medication and dosing plan are determined by a clinician through the same process used for other patients.
“I am not asking people to use a service I would not use myself,” Del Castillo said. “I experience Obra from both sides. I see the work behind the company, but I also know what it feels like to wait for instructions, receive the package, ask questions and depend on the care team.”
Being a patient has influenced decisions across the service, from the clarity of the assessment and treatment instructions to packaging, delivery updates and support.
“There is no special founder version of Obra,” he said. “I go through the same process we are building for every patient. That keeps us honest about what feels clear, what feels confusing and what needs to be better.”
Del Castillo’s comments relate to Obra’s service and patient experience. They are not evidence that a particular medication will work for everyone or a guarantee of a medical outcome.
Affordable should not mean uncertain
Obra is competing on price, but Del Castillo says affordability cannot come at the expense of medication quality.
The pharmacy behind the service uses pharmaceutical-grade active pharmaceutical ingredients rather than materials sold only for research purposes.
Obra has also engaged SGS Philippines to conduct local independent testing of selected samples instead of relying solely on documents provided by an overseas supplier.
Depending on the testing stage and sample, assessments may include:
- Potency
- Purity
- Sterility
- Endotoxin
- pH
Obra plans to publish plain-language explanations and available quality documents online so patients can better understand where their medication comes from and how its quality has been assessed.
SGS provides independent laboratory services and does not endorse Obra Health or its treatments.
“Patients should not have to trust a seller because the packaging looks professional or because someone posted a certificate online,” Del Castillo said.
“They deserve to know who reviewed their case, which pharmacy prepared their medication and what quality checks were performed.”
Nearly one in two Filipino adults is now overweight or obese
Obra is launching as weight-related health concerns continue to increase across the country.
According to the National Nutrition Council, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Filipino adults increased from 39.8% in 2023 to 44.5% in 2025, nearly one in every two adults.
Del Castillo believes the country needs a more useful conversation about weight: one that replaces shame with support and recognizes how work, commuting, cost and access affect people’s health.
Obra does not present GLP-1 medication as an effortless cure or a replacement for appropriate medical care. Its weight-management service also does not treat or replace specialized care for eating disorders.
For Del Castillo, Obra is the service he wishes had existed when he was trapped in his own cycle.
“I know what it feels like to want help but feel stuck between shame, unaffordable care and something you cannot fully trust,” he said.
“I built Obra because personalized GLP-1 treatment and legitimate weight-loss care should not be something only wealthy Filipinos can afford.”
Current plans, prices and eligibility information are available at www.obra.health.
This article is for general information only and does not provide medical advice. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are prescription medications. Treatment requires an individual clinical assessment, and a prescription is not guaranteed. Compounded medications are not the same as branded products.
