#Empowering Communities
iSIQUIJOR
Elena’s Bakery: Kneading a crisp infobits Incumbent Gov. Zaldy “Jecoy” recipe for income, employment Villa and Rep. Jake Vincent “JecJec” Villa will soon exchange posts as they emerged as the winners for Congressional and Gubernaturial seats in this year’s election in Siquijor. Congressional candidate Jecoy garnered 33,989 votes over his close opponent Orlando Fua Jr’s 26,722 votes while Jec-Jec has 32,615 over Gubernaturial candidate Dean Villa’s 31,388 -------ooo-------ooo------Local JJM (Jecoy, Jec-Jec, Mimi) Party candidates won the congressional and provincial posts with Zaldy “Jecoy” Villa, Jake Vincent “Jec-Jec) Villa, and Reelectionist Mei Ling “Mimi” Quezon Brown winning the congressional, gubernaturial, and vice-gubernatorial seats, reapectively. -------ooo-------ooo------Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) Coordinator Rev. Fr. Leonard hailed the 651 PPCRV volunteers, 90% of them are youth, who assisted in making the 2022 elections, meaningful and successful. -------ooo-------ooo------Re-electionist Mayor of the Municipality of Siquijor, Richard Quezon has retained his post, with his running mate for vicemayor Junnie Jumawan. . -------ooo-------ooo------Incumbent Mayor Wilfredo “James” Capundag of San Juan, Siquijor, also retains post with Rubilyn “Nanang” Ragay as the new Vice Mayor. -------ooo------ooo------For Larena town, incumbent Vice-Mayor Cyrus Calibo becomes the new mayor while the new elected vice-mayor is the town’s current Liga ng mga Barangay President Jan Dean S. Villa. -------ooo-------ooo------The Municipality of Maria will have a new Mayor in the person of Roselyn Asok, currently the SB member and wife of Mayor Meynard Asok with Ivy Dan Samson retaining his post as the Vice - Mayor. -------ooo-------ooo------Neophyte Mayoral candidate Nale Vincent Masayon won by 26 votes in Enrique Villanueva town garnering 2,241 votes over his close opponent Leonardo Paculba’s 2,215 votes. Paculba is currently the town’s vice-mayor who will be replaced by Ruth Bon Aque as the new elected Vice-Mayor.
by Jose Aldous Arbon II
iiSIQUIJOR SIQUIJOR Information is our business.
THE OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF THE PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.PIA.GOV.PH and the DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.DOST.GOV.PH VOL. 10| No. 17
Elena’s bakery has hit a winning streak again. Elena Tuale Ibera, at one time, appeared slowly out of the cubicle of her bakery with a smile, and faced a local tourist from Cebu City and greeted him, “Good morning.” The tourist answered, “Good morning, Ma’am, may I have a bag of otap?” That would become a routine at her bakery, and sometimes, Elena’s customers had to make reservations for orders of her popular “otap” as supply would run out in a day. Unassuming and low-key, Elena would give an impression that she is not up to a crackling success. But around her bakery, she is a warm force to reckon with. Her strength is her silence, and her silence has given her an intense focus to sustain her bakery’s production. On March 28, 2022, Elena made a delivery of “otap” to her customers just when the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region 7 recognized her as one of the four winners in Central Visayas as Most Gender Resilient and Gender Responsive Woman Entrepreneur. “Salamat,” she said, and went her way again back to her bakery. The story of Elena’s Bakery is a story of a woman’s positive response to a challenge to see her worth, to empower her being, and to write her future. She believes that whatever life dumps on her, she would not be undermined. “Sa akong katungod, namugna ning Elena’s Bakery kay naka-experience ko sa una nga wala ko tagai og balor isip usa ka industrial partner sa usa ka bakery. Ang ilang promise nila nga ihatag nako wala matuman. Sayangan ko nga akong gugma sa baking og decorating mawala ra. So naningkamot ko sa pagpundar para sa akong bakery. Ako na-realize nga bisan usa ako ka babaye, kaya nako nga mahimong usa ka single-proprietor (Elena’s Bakery was put up because I had an experience where I was not valued as an industrial partner in a bakery that I used to work for. My partners did not deliver what they promised to me. I don’t want to shelve my love for baking and decorating. So, I worked hard to invest in a bakery. I realized that even if I am a woman, I could become a single-proprietor),” she said. In 2008, she started her business venture from a small loan capital. She knew a growing market in the province of Siquijor existed for her products in lieu of celebrations of fiestas, birthdays, or wedding anniversaries. Eventually, her plain loaf, cinnamon loaf, assorted breads, sliced breads, mammon, and ensaymada would become a hit among her customers. As the customers’ orders increasingly grew, she asked for the intervention of the DOST through its Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program or SETUP, with the aim of introducing efficient baking technologies to improve quality product and increase production by 30%; to extend product shelf life and increase storage capacity through the introduction of appropriate storage technology; and to increase revenue by 30%. “Naa koy unom ka workers - tulo ka babaye og tulo ka mga lalaki. Ang mga babaye sila maoy akong helpers og packers; unya ang mga lalaki maoy silay naka-assign sa oven. I see to it nga ang ilang trabaho pinasigo sa ilang katakos og sa ilang pagkatawo. Pananglitan, ang akong gi-assign sa oven mao ang mga lalaki tungod kay sila maoy mas maka-agwanta sa kainit and then ang mga babaye sa baking tungod kay nagkinahanglan man siya og sensitivity sa kamot (I am employing six workers - three women and three men. The women are my helpers and packers while the men are assigned with the ovens. I see to it that their respective assignments are aligned with their capacity and gender. For instance, I assign men with the ovens because they have more tolerance to heat while I assign women to baking because it requires some sensitive hands),” she added. As to her management, she says: “Kada adlaw ako ipabalo sa ako mga workers among target of production. So aware sila unsa ilang specific nga buhaton. Hands on pud ko --- so along our production, naa pud ko maka supervise closely nila. Ang importante, ako sila gitagaan og panahon to rest and to recharge (Everyday, I would tell my workers our target production. So they are aware of what to do. I am also a hands on collaborator, so along our production I could supervise them closely. What is important is that I am giving them rest in between production for them to recharge). Elena remains a woman of many possibilities. Aside from manning her bakery, she also tends to her cows, sews, and does beauty services like manicure or pedicure. She said this is her way of looking for other sources of income in case man-made or natural calamities would render her bakery non-operational. Right now, Elena’s bakery is earning at least P10,000 a day. That is a handsome dividend to create a dependable livelihood for her family and for generating employment in the locality of Enrique Villanueva, Siquijor. Elena and her bakery would become a testimony of a woman’s strength, resilience, and faith in life’s good and awesome possibilities. (PR)
May 9 - 16, 2022
COMELEC, PNP, PPCRV claims smooth elections in Siquijor
Smooth and systematic conduct of election. This is how the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Siquijor Police Provincial Office (SPPO) and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) described the recent conduct of elections in Siquijor as they lauded the support of the different groups and the maturity of the country as a democratic country. Provincial Election Supervisor Eliseo R.Z.B. Labaria said election in Siquijor is Eletion Supervisor Eliseo RZB Labaria, SPPO Provincial Director Robert C. Lingbawan, generally peaceful with only minor glitches and PPCRV Coordinator Leonard Tan in an interview with the PIA. in the operation of vote counting machines while SPPO Provincial Director PCol. for each voting center were deployed to of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army. Robert D. Lingbawan reported smooth provide security during the elections. There were reports of malfunction Likewise, PPCRV Coordinator Rev. start in the casting of votes in the province of Siquijor, as 100% of the voting centers of some VCMs in some voting centers but Fr. Tan supported the claim and hailed the according to the SPPO, they were pulled out 651 PPCRV volunteers, 90% of them are and precincts have started on time. With a total of 132 Voting Centers and replaced immediately, delivery of which youth, who assisted in making the 2022 in Siquijor, some 264 police officers or two were escorted by the Quick Response Team elections, meaningful and successful.
Even up to the wee hours, voters provincewide eagerly wait for the final results of this election. See winners on page 4 under INFOBITS.