Home of the Champions; Kingdom of Beneficiary Excellence

In a humble land called the municipality of Siay, Zamboanga Sibugay situated far, far away from the busy city lifestyle, reside 3,315 families who belong to the vulnerable sector. These families, despite having meager and inadequate wealth, live in harmony under a program called the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program –more popularly known as the 4Ps. Together, they battle against a vicious enemy that cripples their children’s dreams and aspirations in life, an enemy so dreadful for it torments generation of families, an enemy named Poverty.

Seeing the need for reinforcement and support to poverty-alleviation activities, the town Mayor, Hon. Jarvis M. Acosta, requested the audience of the 10 most beautiful and powerful 4Ps mothers who have the potential to be hailed as 4Ps ReyNanay, a queen who possesses both the charm and leadership to influence members of the program for community mobilization.

10 women were summoned to take the responsibility of becoming the face of inspiration for 4Ps families. In an event sponsored by the local government of Siay dubbed as the 4Ps 6^th Anniversary Celebration, each of the invited queens showcased their talents, wit, and charisma to prove that they can take on the role of communicating the message and successes of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Today (June 13), one queen was crowned as Siay’s 4Ps ReyNanay. The whole town rejoiced with grace as another 4Ps ambassador was added in the list of beneficiaries who brought pride to the municipality. With the naming of the 4Ps ReyNanay along with a back-to-back win in 4Ps Exemplary Child competition, the municipality continues to prove that they are indeed the ‘Home of the Champions’ and Zamboanga Sibugay thrives to be the ‘Kingdom of Beneficiary Excellence’.

Crowning A Queen

Hailing from descendants of unfortunate families, Ermalyn C. Nistal understands the hardships one endures because of poverty. She, herself, has not finished her studies because her parents cannot afford to send her to school. For a young damsel like she was and many others like her, settling for marriage was quite a solution, because then, she would be one less mouth to feed in the household.

And so Ermalyn got married and was blessed with 4 children. She settled in a humble abode in Barangay Monching. It was a modest life that she lived but she sure knows that she could still be more and do more.

One day, she was bestowed with a gift –one that would realize her ambitions not anymore just for herself but more importantly for her family. They became part of the country’s poverty-alleviation program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Under the guidance of seemingly their fairy godmothers or in real life known as the Municipal Link, Ermalyn began to discover more of her queenly potential. More than the grants that they receive, she learned many things from the Family Development Sessions (FDS), a monthly gathering of 4Ps beneficiaries, that equipped her to become a good parent and a leader in the community.

During the celebration of the 4Ps Anniversary in Siay, she was asked, “how do you apply the lessons you learn in the FDS to your daily life”?

One response that struck the most to the judges is the idea about dedicating an hour to sit down and have a talk with the family members. Real talk: not all families, especially in this day and age, choose to bond with members by conversing with each other about their lives. Many of us are so occupied with our individual activities and the internet. More often, kids prefer to share their activities online rather than discuss them with their parents. This action by Ermalyn earned her a spot in the Top 3 finalists of the competition.

Her words resonated to many co-beneficiaries of the program which proved that she can be an ambassador of the program hence she was conferred with the title as 4Ps ReyNanay 2025.

The DSWD will continue to monitor her activities and guide her towards self-sufficiency.