22/06/2025
“𝐏𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐠-𝐚𝐬𝐚 - 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐨’𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲𝐚: 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞”
𝐎𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭. 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐨 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐦𝐚-𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐘 — “𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.”
Rooted in love, compassion, and the commitment to rebuild families and lives affected by HIV and AIDS, the program opened with inspiring and heartfelt remarks from 𝐅𝐫. 𝐑𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐨 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐉𝐫., 𝐌𝐈, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, whose words served as a spiritual anchor and a reminder that faith and service go hand in hand. This was followed by messages of hope and solidarity from 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐂𝐈 𝐁𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐨, representing our advocacy partners whose support has been instrumental in this journey.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, “𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐆-𝐀𝐒𝐀 – 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐨’𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲𝐚”, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲—𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
The heart of the empowerment began with 𝐌𝐬. 𝐂𝐲𝐫𝐚 𝐏. 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐨, 𝐑𝐍, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭, who led the Family Support and Empowerment session, shining a vital light on the role of mental health support in the HIV journey. Her compassionate facilitation, assisted by the dedicated Psychology Interns from Saint Louis University, created a safe and nurturing space for participants. Their empathy, warmth, and presence helped ease the burdens carried by families, offering relief, connection, and strength.
Following this, 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐚, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩, 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐚, facilitated a psychosocial reflection and peer support activity that centered on the healing power of sharing, listening, and affirming. It emphasized the importance of a support system not only for emotional resilience but also as a medical and mental health intervention.
𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬.
“𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭,” 𝘗𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘐𝘝 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦—𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢.”
𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐘 is not just a project.
It is a promise to rebuild not just homes, but hope.
To nurture not just individuals, but families.
To create not just safe spaces, but belonging.
We express our deepest gratitude to the institutions and individuals who stood with us:
Department of Health - CHD - CAR
Fr. Rodolfo Vicente Cancino Jr., MI and St. Camillus Novitiate, Baguio City
Dra. Celia Flor Brillantes, City Health Officer II – HSO Baguio
Mr. Ricky Ducas Jr., Learning Service Provider – Anxiety and Depression Support Group
Ms. Cyra P. Policarpio, RN – Mental Health Program Assistant
President James Carino, JCI Baguio
Psychology Interns from Saint Louis University
And the passionate team behind Salakniban Support Group Inc.
