Empowering women and inspiring the community are some of Jocelyn “Celyn” Llano-Sagubo’s remarkable characteristics as a successful business partner, advocate, mother, and former beneficiary of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

According to Celyn, engaging with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is one of the most fulfilling successes that she has, so far, attained because she was able to become an advocate for change in her community while trying to overcome poverty.

At present, Celyn together with her ‘breast friends,’ manages the Breastfeeding Care Center for mothers having difficulties in breastfeeding. The center became a medium to reach out to nursing mothers and soon-to-be mothers to provide support in their motherhood journeys.

Humble beginnings

Poverty motivated Celyn and her family to dream big and to work hard for their future.

“I pitied myself because we had really nothing back then. There was a time when we had no food to eat. My mother would cook lugaw (porridge) and she would beg for rice from our neighbors just for us to have food,” Celyn narrated.

Raised in Lualhati, Baguio City, Celyn’s family became a 4Ps beneficiary in 2013. She regularly attended the parents’ gatherings of 4Ps and Family Development Sessions (FDS) to impart her story and encourage other beneficiaries to strive hard and never give up on their dreams.

In 2015, Celyn actively joined the massage training conducted by the Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of DSWD Field Office-CAR, in partnership with the Department of Health (DOH), to further enhance her skills.

Celyn’s hard work paid off after she became a licensed massage therapist in June 2016. She accepted several on-call home massage services which led to building and expanding her linkages and networks.

Being gainfully employed, Celyn and family willingly waived their 4Ps household’s rights and privileges from the program in August 2019. By waiving their rights, they are no longer entitled to receive the cash grants under the program.

Celyn then encouraged those assessed as non-poor households of the 4Ps program not to feel sad, but rather, to be proud of themselves because they were able to improve their plight and that their exit from the program could give hope and opportunities to other poor households.

With the support of her husband and children, Celyn’s family was able to cope and rise from poverty. Her story became a source of hope and inspiration for other beneficiaries of the program.

Giving back to the community

As an advocate for change, Celyn continued to fulfill her life’s purpose of providing health and nutrition services to the community.

With the help of her siblings and friends, whom she considers “breast friends,” they were able to fulfill their breastfeeding advocacy with the objective of helping families, especially mothers.

In 2018, Celyn and her “breast friends,” established the Lactation Spa and Clinic of the North. After a few years, they renamed their center to Breastfeeding Care Center of the North.

With this step forward, their small business became a huge success in catering to the needs of breastfeeding mothers. The center also contributed to the health and wellness of families by conducting a collaborative series of wellness sessions.

Eventually, in December 2021, a partnership was made formally between the Breastfeeding Care Center and the DSWD Field Office CAR. The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the two parties stated that the Breastfeeding Care Center is one of the DSWD Field Office’s civil society organization (CSO)-partners under the “Gabay at Kaagapay” partnership framework.

Celyn’s inspiring story reflected the program’s objective of ensuring a “Matatag, Maginhawa, at Panatag na Pamilyang Pilipino.”

With Celyn’s optimism, perseverance, and strong faith in God, she is determined to fulfill all her goals in life.

The 4Ps is a flagship program of the national government on poverty reduction and social development. It provides cash grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education, particularly of children aged 0-to below 18 years old.

4Ps invests in human capital to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty among poor households.

As of 30 June 2023, the program covers a total of 3,893,958 active household-beneficiaries across 41,676 barangays in the entire country. #