AFP paper says Malampaya pipeline not terror-proof.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 27, 2002 | Copyright
BATANGAS CITY-The Malampaya gas pipeline is not terror-proof.
Lt. Senior Grade Florante Nagua, assistant chief for strategy and policy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said in a paper that the security forces guarding the pipeline are not completely equipped to prevent any terrorist attack on the pipeline.
Nagua's paper said should terrorists attack the pipeline, a region-wide catastrophe that would cause damages to Palawan up to Mindoro and Batangas could occur.
The Joint Security Force guarding the project is composed of personnel of the AFP, the Philippine National Police, and Shell Philippines security forces.
President Macapagal-Arroyo earlier ordered tight security on the project sites in three provinces.
In his position paper, Nagua said, "securing the exclusion and safety zones requires control of the surfaces, sub-surfaces and air spaces in the area in order to detect and identify traffic, and prevent, repel, or destroy hostile intrusion."
Unfortunately, the Philippine Air Force still does not have the aircraft that could monitor the Camago-Malampaya pipeline from Palawan to Batangas.
The Philippine Navy also does not have fast seacraft that could watch over the restricted zones.
The PAF still has no electronic sensors that could detect any moving object in the air or in the sea within the 504-kilometer restricted area around the project.
Supt. Rolando Lorenzo, Batangas police director, said they have stepped up patrols around the pipeline and tightened security.
He said five policemen were sent to the First Gas power plant in Sta. Rita and 15 policemen were sent to the Keilco power plant in Ilijan.
"By land, the terrorists won't have a chance."
David Greer, Shell-Malampaya Gas-to-Power Project managing director, said a terrorist attack on the pipeline area is simply impossible.
"How can the terrorists find the pipeline? Where is the pipeline? Nobody knows where it is except our engineers. And the submarine pipelines are over 600 meters underwater," Greer said.
After four years of constructing the 508-km submarine pipeline from Palawan to Batangas where the natural gas passes through, Greer will leave the country for other projects abroad.
The natural gas pipeline is the largest in the world.
The Malampaya gas-to-power project has made the country one of the world's major gas producers since its official operation on Oct. 16 last year.
The Philippine government will get $8 billion from the project in the next 20 years. (Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau)

Kapeng Barako brews strong black business

Jose "Joe" Mercado, Chairman of Merlo

 the biggest name in Batangas Coffee...

BARAKO!

LIPA CITY-  "I drink coffee to live and live to drink coffee," Merlo Agricultural Corp. (Merlo) chair Jose Mercado said, drinking his sixth cup of Batangas brewed coffee for that day.

But that is not enough. There will be more cups of coffee as the day wears on.

From a mere P3,000 capital in 1974, Mercado built his coffee business that has placed the name of Batangas in the map of the world's coffee importers.

Merlo, now the biggest name in freshly brewed Batangas coffee business, has penetrated the United States, Canada, Singapore and the Middle East, making Lipa City's Kapeng Barako the sought-after coffee of most five-star hotels and restaurants.

Coffee family

The first coffee tree in the country was planted in Pinagtung-Ulan, in this city by the Macasaet clan, Mercado's great, great, great grandparents, in the 1800s.

Thus, Merlo's history spans hundreds of years of a family tradition in coffee-blending and roasting that made the company's coffee a distinction in the industry.

"I was born in a coffee sack under a coffee tree," Mercado said.

His father, Macario, also started young in the coffee business. Mercado said his father started his business by buying coffee beans from farmers and selling roasted coffee beans to the market.

He got a profit of five centavos per gallon. He was in that business from the time he was still single until he got married and raised a family.

"We are eight children in the family and our father was able to send all of us in college through his coffee business," Mercado said.

Like his father, he, too, was able to raise his family with the help of his coffee business.

Hardwork

"I have three secret ingredients for success," Mercado said, "it's hardwork, hardwork and hardwork."

In 1970, his father bought a coffee bean roaster. Mercado worked for him for P200 a month salary. Saving his money, Mercado later decided to buy and sell his own coffee.

With only P3,000 in his pocket, he ventured into his own business and sold coffee in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, La Union, Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur.

That time, he delivered coffee twice a month with 50 sacks in his rented truck for two years.

In 1974, he leased his wife's aunt's 24-hectare coconut plantation and planted coffee and lansones. That same year, he put up Merlo Enterprises.

Merlo was the combination of his family name and his wife's surname, Ligaya Lopez.

Later, they were able to buy the land they leased. Like, his father, Mercado also utilized his family's help. Ligaya, a former teacher, also helped in the business.

All of their children also helped. The business grew and diversified into poultry, poultry supplies, piggery and imported animal health products.

In 1978, Merlo Enterprises became a corporation, with family members as incorporators.

Merlo constructed its coffee and office buildings in Morada Avenue, Lipa City in 1980.

Two years later, they started to export the Batangas coffee.

Secret blend

What has made Cafe de Lipa, Batangas Brew, and Kapeng Barako sought-after coffee brands is the Mercado family's secret blend of coffee beans and roasting technique. 

According to his daughter Mayen Mercado-Panganiban, who is now the assistant manager in the coffee division, the aroma, body and flavor of the coffee create its distinct personality.

"Every coffee variety has its own character. We have the Barako, also known as the Liberica, the Robusta, the Exelsa, and the Arabica. What makes our coffee unique is the way we blend and roast the coffee beans," she said, "And that is the family's secret blend for generations now."

Cafe de Lipa was launched in the market in 1990 while Batangas Brew has been in the family for generations now.

Another coffee blend, Ala ey! Kape, started in the late 1990s. Here, one of Mercado's daughters, Jasmin, modeled for the coffee wrapper.

These blends are now in supermarkets nationwide, bringing the taste of true Batangas coffee in every pack.

"We believe that freshness matters. Our coffee is packed in airtight packets immediately after it is grounded," Panganiban added.

This is done to ensure the coffee's freshness and retain its aroma.

"After opening its pack, the coffee should be placed in an airtight container. That way, coffee will not oxidize. The coffee loses its aroma after oxidation," she explained.

Vanishing crop

In 1995, Merlo was forced to stop exporting coffee when the volume dropped. Farmers gradually stopped planting coffee and instead planted pineapple and other crops.

"That's because of overproduction," Mercado said, "In 1986, a kilo of coffee beans cost as high as $4. So more farmers all over the world planted coffee. That time, the price went down by more than 50 percent."

Mercado used to buy coffee beans only from Batangas province. Now he has to travel to Cavite, Quezon, Laguna, Kalinga, and Ifugao provinces to buy coffee beans.

"We used to be in the top five of the coffee exporters worldwide," Mercado recalled. "Now we are importing more than what we used to export," he adds.

Brazil, Vietnam, and Indonesia are now the world's top coffee importer.

"But the good forecast for coffee planters is that it's the best time to plant coffee. Because in a matter of five years, prices will go up again," Mercado

Diversified

When the coffee export went down, Merlo diversified into the piggery, poultry and poultry supplies businesses.

"We have to diversify to other businesses so that when one fails, we still have something to fall back on," Mercado said.

Merlo Agricultural Corp. has now 250 sows in its piggery farm. Last year, it started importing animal health products. One of Merlo's biggest clients now include the province's biggest cooperatives such as the Soro-soro Ibaba Development Corp. and Limcoma, and some of the country's biggest livestock corporations such as Monterey, Foremost Farms and San Miguel.

Mercado said he has also trained all his children to run the businesses.

"It's better if they know how to manage the business and to value hard work. That way, the family's legacy lives on," Mercado said. "I run my family like I run the business."

Merlo has also created jobs in the city with more than 100 employees working in the corporation's businesses.

Kapeng Barako

Batangas coffee owes its authentic taste and aroma to the Mercado family's age-old tradition and secret recipe for blending and roasting coffee beans. The recipe has been handed down from generation to generation.

Kapeng Barako, according to Mercado, got its name from the Batanguenos' strength to drink coffee without anything to go with it such as cookies and pastries.

"Batanguenos can drink strong coffee served without anything else," he said, "that's why we are called barakos. We can take it strong and can still smile."

Kapeng Barako has been the coffee preferred by revolutionaries who were fighting for freedom during the Spanish era.

During the Filipino-American War, it was also the coffee drank by Filipino patriots.

World War II veterans also remember Kapeng Barako as the coffee that raised their spirits during the war.

"That's because drinking Kapeng Barako makes the blood alive and your mind more active," he said, "The soldiers needed the coffee to keep them on the go and raise their adrenalin."

Even now, when people refer to Kapeng Barako, it would always be remembered as the best tasting coffee found only in Batangas. (Philippine Daily Inquirer February 24, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau)

Photos from www. philippinecoffee.wordpress.com and www. mybusiness.globe.com.ph

Hobby turns into a harvest of hybrid fruits.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

May 03, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

MAMBURAO, Occidental Mindoro-Have you ever seen or tasted an eight-kilo seedless watermelon? How about a 3.5-kilo honeydew?

For most of us, these sweet exotic fruits are served only in five-star hotels and restaurants in Metro Manila and can be bought only from classy malls with expensive price tags. But for the people of Mamburao, these melons are just a ride away to the Jopson Aqua Livestock Integrated Resources Inc. (Jaliri) farms in Barangay Tayamaan here.

What started as a hobby on honeydew melon culture in 1993 turned into a legacy of fruit goodness said to be found only in Mamburao.

Jaliri farm manager Rodolfo Plopino said the secret is in the climate, the fresh spring water and the rich soil of the farm that go well with the organic fertilizer from the nearby dairy farm.

His wife, Maria Corazon Jopson-Plopino, whose father, Hernan, and brother, Edgar, were the first to cultivate the 300-hectare multi-investment farm in 1965, said the seeds they got from Taiwan and Japan in 1993 produced only 1.5 kilos per fruit.

Jaliri Farms was able to double that. Here, each honeydew melon and each golden prize melon weighs at least 2.5 kilos, the biggest tips the scale at 3.5 kilos. Seedless watermelons weigh a maximum of 19 kilos.

Now supplying melons to Makro, S & R, Landmark, Rustan's, and Shopwise malls, Jaliri was also able to export its melons to Taiwan.

The melons have also reached the plates of the rich and famous as most local government officials of the province have given the President, the senators, congressmen and businessmen sweet melons as gifts.

Jopson farm

In 1965, Maria Corazon's father took Edgar to the island-province of Mindoro. There they rented a room in Mamburao, the province's capital town, and moved around only in jeepneys and karetelas, and sometimes rented a pumpboat to go to the other towns and barrios.

It was on this trip that their host took the Jopsons to see a piece of land for sale in what is now Barangay Tayamaan. Father and son were impressed by what they saw. The land abounds with animal life-deer, wild boar, monkeys and birds.

It was Edgar who convinced his father to buy the land. Hernan is known in the business community as the pioneer of the supermarket business. He was the first to put up the country's first supermarket, the Jopson Supermarket, which operated from 1947 to 1989.

"Coming here was an adventure for all of us," Maria Corazon said.

"Since there was no electricity yet, we had candles at night. And since we didn't have artesian wells at that time, we bathed in the river. Here, we learned to cook our food over wood fire," she added.

Along with her eight siblings, they visited the farm during summer vacations.

"American troops used to have war games here, when they trained for jungle survival back in the '70s when the Vietnam War was still on," she recalled.

Multi-investment

When the Jopsons stopped their supermarket operation in 1989, the 300-hectare land, which used to be planted to coconuts, was converted into a multi-investment farm.

"When the supermarket was sold, we came here to develop this farm," Maria Corazon said.

The farm also had the capacity for rice and corn propagation. But when the honeydew melon bore better and sweeter fruits, the Jopsons prioritized the melons.

Initially, 3,000 square meters of land were used to propagate the melons.

Romeo Sapin, Maria Corazon's brother-in-law, who was trained by the Taiwanese, was the first to plant the melons.

The first melons planted had 30-40 percent mortality rate. That time, the typhoons frequented the island.

But the agri-business persisted until Jaliri became the leader in the fruit industry. It also began the seedless watermelon production.

Now, four hectares of land are devoted to honey dew melon production while 20 hectares are planted with seedless watermelons. Here, giant seedless watermelons are still exported by dealers who come to buy Jaliri's produce. Seedless watermelon has reached over 300 tons in export every season.

"Before, only the Taiwanese were able to propagate honeydew melons and seedless watermelons," Plopino said.

"We used to get our seeds from Taiwan and Japan. Now, we produce better fruits."

Melon planting starts in September, at the end of the rainy season, and harvesting is during Christmas.

"Here, every agribusiness is connected to another business," Plopino said. "The organic fertilizer we use for the melon farm is from the cow manure of our dairy farm. At the acacia plantation, the acacia seeds, which are high in protein, are used as feeds for the cows. Our irrigation system here is also used for the prawn culture."

The island province's climate, which is distinct wet and dry, has also helped in the melon propagation.

Spring water is also used in the Jaliri house set on a top of the hill overlooking the crocodile hill and the Mindoro Strait beyond. It is also used in the family's swimming pool.

Development

"Since the Calabarzon project, the development has been blessed to those provinces only. We thought there was nothing left for Occidental Mindoro," Maria Corazon said. "We wanted to prove that we have our own identity, that Mamburao town in Occidental Mindoro has a memorable taste experience that's worth returning to. In our own small way, somehow the government can send even a trickle of development in our province."

Known for the distinct sweetness of the honeydew and golden prize melons, and the giant seedless watermelons, Jaliri farm has been imitated by more and more farms from other provinces.

When the Asian currency crisis started in 1998, exports declined.

"That's when we decided to cater directly to homes," Maria Corazon said.

Farmgate prices of the melon range from P45 to P50 per kilo.

"You have to exercise good timing and adopt a viable sales strategy at all times," Plopino said, "That way, you won't be hit hard when crisis strikes."

In the fruit industry, Jaliri melons have to compete with lesser quality melons with lower price.

Most often, hotels and restaurants prefer the cheaper but bland-tasting melons-sacrificing quality for quantity.

"That's why when you tasted bland honeydew melons in hotels, don't blame us. That's not ours," Maria Corazon said.

Resort

The 300-hectare farm is also a resort where visitors get a hands-on farm experience and hike on the mountains.

At the farm front, where the ice plant is located, guests can have a tour of the facility.

Kumatog and Crocodile mountains that still abound with monkeys, wild labuyo chicken, falcons, eagles, and bayawak lizards.

Below the Crocodile mountain is a 2.5-kilometer stretch of white sand. At the beach, the clear water is still knee-deep at a kilometer's walk. The farm has two rivers-the Mamburao and Tugilan-connected to the sea where guests can get on a boat, do some fishing and sail on to the sea.

At the prawn farms, guests can join the prawn feeding. Below the hill, where the family house is located, is the dairy farm where visitors can get a first-hand experience at cow branding.

Here, guests can also go horseback riding, watch the cross-pollination of crops and harvest honeydew melons, golden prize melons and seedless watermelons.

At the back of the farm is a Mangyan settlement where 30 families live on a four-hectare land and where a hectare is cultivated for rice planting.

According to Maria Corazon, the concept to develop the farm into a full-scale multi-investment resort is still in the planning stage. "For now, we just enjoy nature with our family, friends and guests."

For couple, art comes first before money.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

March 24, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

BATANGAS CITY-Amid the Gulf war, Alex Michael del Rosario and wife Teresita met in Saudi Arabia, got married in 1991 and started a catering business that served the guests of Filipino and foreign workers in the oil-rich kingdom.

In 1995, equipped with the knowledge, expertise and necessary capital to start their own catering business, the couple decided to go home to the Philippines and, within six years, they were able to build a catering business that has served celebrities.

The couple further professionalized the industry and the couple's business has now become the standard for catering excellence in Batangas.

"I think what really sets us apart from the others, aside from the taste of the food and the artistic presentation, is the personal touch we put in every function that we have," Alex said.

Love, food romance

Coming from a family of caterers in Cavite, Alex studied civil engineering. But catering, which was his first love, remained in his heart.

"I went to work in Saudi Arabia that time to earn enough capital to finance the catering business I was planning. There I met another love, Teresita, who shared the same passion," Alex said, "and I married her."

Alex and Teresita used the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as their training ground for their food and catering business by putting up a small restaurant in Al-Khodair campsite where Alex worked.

They provided the food for the Al-Khodair Filipino and foreigner-workers and those in the nearby hospital.

"I remember how hard it was then," Teresita said, "I was pregnant with Juan Carlo and we would go to the wet market to buy fresh meat and vegetables. We also made daing and our own bagoong for our Filipino customers to have a taste of home."

The couple even cooked exotic Arabian, Egyptian, Indian, Pakistani, Palestinian and Tunisian dishes, thus, contributing to their knowledge in international cuisine.

Their business went on for more than a year until Alex was given a new assignment in Aqaba, making it impossible for them to continue the operation of their restaurant.

That time, Alex has been spending most of his spare time attending private teachings and training by several Filipino and foreign chefs he met and befriended.

In 1995, the couple decided to go home to the Philippines.

Juan Carlo-the Caterer

In August 1995, Juan Carlo-the Caterer was born in Batangas.

The Del Rosario couple first started with a small booth in the parking area at P. Burgos corner Rizal Avenue in Batangas City and introduced Shawarma, an Arabian sandwich preparation, to Batanguenos.

But the Shawarma booth was forced to close in three months to give way to the construction of the Metrobank building. In November of the same year, the Del Rosarios started the catering business.

With borrowed props from his family of caterers in Cavite, their family-handed recipes and cutlery to go with what they had saved from years of working in Saudi Arabia, the couple braved their first catering function in the Philippines.

This was during the inauguration of the laboratory extension of St. Patrick's Hospital in the city. Three more deals were negotiated and confirmed from that occasion.

Since then, every exposure would mean more calls for reservation and more clients. The catering business boomed. In the months that followed, Juan Carlo-the Caterer became a household name and a must for every occasion in the province.

Only on its sixth month of operation, Juan Carlo had its biggest project: catering to 3,000 guests who attended the golden anniversary celebration of Mt. Carmel of Lipa. This was followed five months later by their most glamorous and star-studded project so far-the wedding of Ogie Alcasid to former Ms Australia, Michelle Van Eimeren.

Juan Carlo made another leap in Cavite when it catered at the Bong Revilla and Lani Mercado wedding in Bacoor where 3,000 guests came to grace the occasion.

Juan Carlo was also the caterer of Batangas personalities like Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas, Batangas City Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha, Taal Mayor Librado Cabrera, Gen. Jose Aquino and Commissioner Edgar Mendoza.

In October 1996, Juan Carlo ventured into canteen management and became the canteen concessionaire of the JG Summit Petrochemical Plant in Barangay Simlong, Batangas City, followed the following year by Universal Robina Corp., also in the city.

Proving that he can also manage a fine-dining restaurant, Alex became the concessionaire of the exclusive Caltex Banaba Clubhouse on Sept. 11, 1999.

Copycats

Since Juan Carlo entered into the Batangas catering business, more and more caterers have emerged and copied Alex's concepts and even bragged of a lower price per plate.

"What really happens is that they would tell the customers that they can give the artistic presentation and taste that Juan Carlo could give at a very low price. When the customer grabs their package because of the lower costs, they would regret it in the end, because Juan Carlo's techniques can never be duplicated," Alex said.

Every year, Juan Carlo presents a new concept for their functions.

Another misconception of some customers upon seeing the site arrangement and food presentation done by Juan Carlo was that the food and service were beyond the reach of the common Batangueno.

"The truth is, despite the artistic presentation and taste, we have one of the lowest rates at P250 per plate," Teresita said, "that is very affordable for Batanguenos. But still some people think that we charge high rates, which is not true."

Catering is art

Alex said he made use of his engineering background in preparing for every function.

Four male chefs do the cooking now, a job that Alex used to do as a one-man caterer when they first started.

"Our chefs used to be carpenters, farmers and electricians. Definitely, they didn't have any background in international cuisine when they first started. But I trained them and even hired international chefs as consultants. Now they can cook the best-tasting international dishes and even debate on the arrangement and presentation of appetizers," Alex said.

Juan Carlo never compromises on quality. When the color of a dish is not right, Alex would never serve it.

Hardwork

Since the business started in 1995, the couple still wakes up as early as 4 a.m. and sleeps as late as 1 a.m. the next day. Alex still does the marketing for the fresh vegetables and meat.

He said that hard work is the key to success in the business.

"You also have to be in the best shape to work real hard because now, we have as many as four big functions a day. And you always have to be there. This business is too demanding and if your health is not in good condition, chances are, you won't make it," he added.

The husband-and-wife team has also proven to be a perfect combination. Alex is the risk-taker while Teresita is the fiscalizer. But they always agree in the end.

Passion for perfection

The biggest catering business in the province now has over 150 part-time waiters and 60 full-time employees. It also runs two company canteens, one in Nestle Lipa City that implements the highest standards of food preparation and serving, and the other one in Caltex Banaba Clubhouse in Batangas City, catering to the company's diplomats and high-ranking officials.

As the only credited member of the Food Caterers Association of the Philippines in Batangas province, Juan Carlo-the Caterer made the great leap in showing Batanguenos that good food and artistic presentation can come in an affordable package.

"Looking back from where we started and where we are now, I think we have fulfilled one great legacy for all food enthusiasts," Alex said, "and the best thing there is that we have expressed our passion to make each catering service a masterpiece."

"We have served the VIPs of the province, and we are still growing," Teresita said.

Farmers' will built multi-awarded cooperative.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

February 17, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

BATANGAS CITY-The will of 59 farmers to have an alternative source of income in 1969 has made their modest undertaking grow into a multi-awarded cooperative with assets worth P75 million and considered as the biggest in the country today.

The founders themselves couldn't believe that the small hut where they started their business is now a three-storey building.

Soro-soro Ibaba Development Cooperative, (SIDC) at Brgy. Soro-soro Ibaba, of this city, now has over 2,170 members, 32 primaries or member cooperatives, and 122 employees.

SIDC has even surpassed the achievements of the best cooperatives in the country. In 1998, Gawad Pitak awarded the cooperative the Best of Hall of Fame for being the top Hall of Famer cooperative for three consecutive years.

"The secret there is very basic. We were honest and we were united. And as we worked hard to maintain and improve the cooperative we started, all our transactions were transparent. There's no room for corruption," said Apolinario Dimaano, 68, one of the founding members who served as treasurer in 1969.

Founders

After seeing a cooperative put up a store in their village, and computing the possible earnings of a Chinese businessman who sold them their animal feeds supply, Victoriano Barte, a farmer, thought of a better income-generating scheme.

"I was the first one he talked to about setting up a cooperative. The idea to set up our own cooperative to supply our animal feeds was brilliant. That means that the Chinese businessman's profit will be ours. And we can use that to grow," Dimaano said. Barte and Apolinario started working on their plan that same day, telling everyone they met about their plan. Luckily, every person they talked with agreed to join.

On March 19, 1969, a week after, 59 members formed their cooperative called Soro-soro Ibaba Farmer's Association with P11,800 as initial capital. The members contributed P200 each to start the business.

At that time, the cooperative got their chicks from Robina farms in Rizal and the feeds from San Miguel.

"Sometimes the truckload of feeds worth P5,000 were delivered here and as treasurer of the group, I had to pay up. The problem was I had only P1,000 in my pocket at that time. What I did to solve the problem was to go around the village and borrow money from friends. And since they knew me as a good person, they lent me the money," Dimaano said.

But when the stakes got higher, Dimaano said all the members helped to raise the money to pay the supplier. "That's when we realized that if we worked together to make this work, we can succeed.

And we did. All it takes is unity, hardwork, and perseverance," he said. They put up a sari-sari store also in Brgy. Soro-soro. That time,it was only a nipa hut.

According to Dimaano, as they saw their cooperative grew, the other cooperatives that came first in the village closed down. "The other cooperatives failed because the officers and members did not pay back their loans. Here at SIDC, we only lend one half of the member's share. That way, we are protected. Fortunately, our members are also honest people who never ran away from their debts," Dimaano added.

Bigger and better

Dimaano admitted that they used to get sneers from their detractors when they started the cooperative.

"Some people would really taunt us because we were all farmers whose highest educational level was 6th grade. That time, only one of us, our auditor Carmen Sopronio, was a commerce graduate. We said, "so what?" We kept on. And we grew bigger and better," Dimaano said.

In 1972, the cooperative changed its name into the Samahang Nayon ng Soro-soro Ibaba, Inc. and started contract-growing hogs to members.

The industry grew along with the cooperative. In 1978, the name was changed again to Soro-soro Ibaba Consumers Cooperative. The name Soro-soro Ibaba Development Cooperative was adopted in 1983 and is still being used now.

From the 59 founding members, the SIDC membership grew to its present 2,170 members.

At present, with 32 primaries, or cooperative members, SIDC has 122 employees and a 9-member board of directors.

From the P11,800 initial capital, SIDC now has P75 million.

"Nobody among the founding members ever thought that what they started out as an alternative source of income could become as big as this," said chairman of the board of directors Angelito Bagui.

In 1987, SIDC started its own feedmill at Soro-soro Karsada, also in this city. The 7,572-square meter feedmill compound now produces an average of 5,000 bags a day of feeds for hogs, poultry and fish. The members of the cooperative buy the feeds, a way of patronizing their own products.

The members have a double advantage in this scheme: they get quality feeds at low price and at the end of the year, get a patronage refund of what they bought from the cooperative.

"In the business of feedmills, the most difficult part to establish is its market," said SIDC general manager Rico Geron, "but in our case, that is not a problem. Our market was already there even before we put up our feedmills."

SIDC's contract growing business, also known in the province as "paiwi" gives the member hog fatteners to grow. The cooperative shoulders the stocks, feeds, veterinary services, and marketing. Here, the cooperative and the contract grower get an equal share of the profit.

Presently, SIDC has 80 heads of hog fatteners, 15 of them breeders. To ensure high quality piglets, SIDC started artificial insemination on March 1998. A cost-efficient way to maintain high-grade boars, this caters to members and associate members of the cooperative.

At present, SIDC has a pig farm in Taysan, Batangas, with 1,500 sows. Complete with first class piggery facilities, the pig farm has also high-grade sows and boars. But hog buyers have become very choosy nowadays.

SIDC started its own hog selling pens with electronic weighing scales and clean facilities to prevent the spread of diseases. This selling pen also speeds up the sales of hogs.

Diversification

SIDC also invested in fish culture. It has now 153 tilapia and bangus fish cages in Agoncillo town.

Here, the fishes are fed with SIDC aqua feeds.

"We learned that from the foot-and-mouth disease in the past. Do not put your eggs in just one basket," Geron said. "We diversified into other businesses that can support us. So, even if one fails, we can't be crippled."

SIDC has also its own expanded credit line, a minimart, convenience store, meat stalls, member-savings, rentals of vehicles and catering equipments, cable TV, and is now exploring the potentials of meat canning.

SIDC's pro-meat now has canned adobo, caldereta, paksiw, humba, and bopis in the market. "I can't say we're the most successful cooperative. But if you look at how SIDC started, from a nipa hut to a three-storey building, a cooperative now worth millions, with so much income and job generating projects, I guess we are successful," Bagui said.

"But we deal with everyday business with the zest of someone just starting." According to Bagui, the cooperative is still looking at the possibilities of investing on a waste water treatment facility, a gas station/auto shop, continuous development of meat processing plant, a diagnostic laboratory for animals, a supermarket, a training center and a rural bank.

"We're planning to put up our rural bank right here in the rural area, where most of them are, and not in the suburbs," he said

Most awarded

SIDC has been Gawad Pitak's favorite from 1993 to 1997 when it got the Best in Profitability award. In 1998, Gawad Pitak awarded the cooperative the Best of Hall of Fame.

SIDC also got the third place as most outstanding small farmers' cooperative in 1989, the best co-op citizen awards in 1996, the most outstanding cooperative and most outstanding Filipino enterprise, also from Gawad Pitak.

In 1998, the UA&P gave SIDC the Outstanding Social Enterprise for People Development award. In 1999, the Cooperatives Development Authority awarded SIDC as the most outstanding agricultural cooperative.

There's money in bones

Philippine Daily Inquirer

 | February 10, 2002 | Copyright

Byline: Mei Magsino, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau

STO. TOMAS, Batangas-Reaching this town about 50 kilometers south of Manila, the gate to Batangas province, motorists can't simply resist the urge to stop at the unofficial but regular bus stop and relish the legendary Rose and Grace's bulalo.

For a worn-out traveler, the taste of hot, salty, slightly sweet, spicy, and beefy flavor of bulalo broth-that goes smoothly down your throat, warms up the cold stomach, heats up the tired body and brings cool perspiration-makes one feel more alive.

And the tender meat comes as a bonus.

The bone marrow? It's Christmas in paradise. It could be the taste, or maybe the timing.

But for restaurant owner Conchita Ascano, there is no secret recipe for her special bulalo that all the presidents, the presidents' men, and people who come to the restaurant since 1970 have enjoyed.

"It's just the same procedure as any bulalo you eat anywhere. I think what made our bulalo here so special is our location," 62-year-old Ascano said.

True enough, people who pass through Sto. Tomas on their way to Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, and the Bicol Region would want nothing more than good food.

Travelers find it amazing to be able to eat home-cooked goodness on the way to their destination.

"Most restaurants would offer low-quality food fortravelers because they think that hungry people would eat anything edible and hot," Ascano said, "but here, we're not just after the profit. We serve good food that travelers deserve."

In the family

Ascano, also known as Nanay Conching, learned to cook from her mother. She said cooking had been her passion from the very start.

Although she was a seamstress when she married her late husband Benjamin, when they lived at Sangley Point in Cavite City, she still cooked for the officers' wives.

When she opened up a four-table carinderia at the Sto. Tomas crossing in 1970, people called her cooking "excellent."

She named her small restaurant Excellent.

That time, a kilo of beef was only P3 and an order of bulalo was only 90 centavos.

In 1976, she transferred to the Maharlika Highway, also in Sto. Tomas. The new location helped Excellent restaurant grow.

She then changed its name into Rose and Grace, after her two daughters.

Later, they offered more Filipino dishes at the restaurant. But the famed bulalo would always take the center stage. Pinangat na tambakol and fried tawilis were also famous for the authentic taste found only at the restaurant.

Tawilis is the only fresh water herring found in Taal Lake, also in Batangas.

Since then, with more and more people coming to get a taste of the legendary bulalo, the restaurant expanded with more than 20 tables, bigger kitchen, more helpers, and air-conditioning units.

Ascano was also able to open up two more restaurants

as the years passed.

Hard work

Ascano believes she owes her success to hard work and dedication that have never waned since 1970. She still wakes up at 4 a.m. and sleeps at 12 midnight-sometimes, even at 4 a.m.-the same routine she had for the last 32 years.

Directly supervising her restaurant crew composed of 30 people, she says she never tires of training her people, that even if she leaves them for some errands, the restaurant would still work well.

The helpers, servers, and cooks who come to work at the

Rose and Grace never left. Some even have their children and grandchildren there.

Nanay Fining, one of the helpers, has been there since 1974.

What made the helpers stay, she said, is the family-style management of Nanay Conching, who treats them all as family members.

Celebrities dine here

During the Toyota-Crispa era, when most Filipinos were hooked on basketball, basketball player-turned-senator Robert Jaworski was hooked on bulalo.

He would always find ways to go to Rose and Grace and have a bowl of steaming bulalo before or after each game.

Former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago is a regular customer here every Saturday at lunchtime after her visit to her dairy farm in Lipa City.

The Ascano family has kept all the photos of the celebrities who have dined at Rose and Grace.

During the Apec Summit in 1996, the Department of Tourism awarded Rose and Grace a plaque of appreciation when the Apec members' espouses, on their way to Villa Escudero, stopped at the restaurant and were impressed by what they had found and tasted.

Presidents, senators, congressmen, truckers, travelers, and people from all walks of life have dined and returned to the restaurant.

Even restaurant owners from nearby towns would dine here and try to copy the taste, but as always, the authentic taste has remained original only at the restaurant.

"I think it's the Filipino's passion for good food that made us the leading restaurant here," Rose Ascano-Espina said, "and when you talk of delicious bulalo, they'd always come here and return."

Rose and Grace has also become a favorite landmark for travelers.

And as always, people would crowd at the restaurant, from early morning till dawn and get a taste of one of Batangas' legacy of good food right at its gate.