By CESAR JOLITO III
For years, Jasmin Oquindo Egan was known for her polished presence in Malacañang, serving as the presidential protocol director under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
But when she left the Palace halls, she traded state banquets for hospital wards and official documents for dialysis kits by embracing a new role: lifeline to children battling chronic kidney disease.
Her turning point came with a chance encounter with “Joy Joy” Treyes, a young girl who was undergoing peritoneal dialysis.
Egan admits she was stunned to learn that children, too, endure the grueling treatment.
That moment gave birth to JasAmazing Journey, a nonprofit organization she founded to provide aid for children with kidney failure.
What began with one patient has now grown into a network supporting over 30 children, many confined to a government hospital in Bacolod City.
Unlike other philanthropists with institutional backers, Egan runs her mission on personal resources — channeling income from her laundry shop and water-refilling business to buy dialysis supplies, medication and even daily needs like alcohol, tissue and food for her young beneficiaries.
“If my grandmother could give even when she had almost nothing, then I must do more with what I have now,” Egan said, recalling the generosity of her late Nanay Adela, who once begged at the San Sebastian Cathedral but never failed to share with others.
To sustain the initiative, Egan has taken bold steps outside her comfort zone.
Earlier this year, she staged a Ben&Ben outdoor concert in Bacolod — a massive undertaking she admitted she had “no experience in.”
The concert raised funds not just for medicine, but also for livelihood tools, such as tricycles, sari-sari stores and even livestock, empowering families of young patients to earn and care for their children at the same time.
The impact is tangible.
Efren Treyes, father of Joy Joy, chose a livestock livelihood package instead of a tricycle or store.
With two carabaos provided through JasAmazing Journey, Efren says their family has been able to afford Joy Joy’s maintenance medicine, renovate their home and even buy a sow to start another livelihood venture.
“The carabaos have helped us stand on our own,” Efren said, adding that the support went beyond survival — it gave them a chance to rebuild their lives.
For Egan, these stories fuel her resolve.
“This work helps me sleep at night. It makes me feel good,” she said.
It is a sentiment that captures the shift in her life’s trajectory — from orchestrating state ceremonies for presidents to orchestrating hope for children whose futures hang on every dialysis session.
In Negros Occidental, where public health challenges remain daunting, Jasmin Egan’s story is a reminder that public service does not end with government office — it can begin anew in the quiet struggles of ordinary families./CJ, WDJ