In the busy streets of Vigan City, Ilocos Sur there can be noticed the tiny stall lined up by many customers. Mostly tourists because of the delicious and unique version of the classic Ilocos merienda – empanada. 

The woman behind the famous delicacy is Cecilia D. Babas, a resident of Barangay IV, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. Her empanada is known for using purely organic ingredients, processing her own meat fillings to create a unique flavor profile, and creating her own dough to produce a thin and crispy crust.

Her enterprise has been the source of her family’s daily needs and to send her three children to school until the pandemic began. She was forced to temporarily close and was left no choice but to exhaust her savings to cover her family expenses during that time. “Ang hirap ng buhay noong mga panahong iyon, lahat kaming nagtitinda ay napilitang magsara dahil wala na ring mga turista (Life at that time was hard, all of us were forced to close because there were no more tourists),” Cecilia reminisced.

The hardship was eased when she received Livelihood Assistance Grant (LAG) from DSWD Field Office 1 – Sustainable Livelihood Program to recover her enterprise from the effect of the pandemic. She also attended capacity building activities of the program, and joined several SLP advocacy activities such as SLP Online Product Live Selling, SLP Congress, and Likhang Hiraya. “Taos puso akong nagpapasalamat sa SLP dahil nabigyan kaming muli ng pag-asang buhayin ang aming negosyo, nabigyan rin ako ng pagkakataong ipatikim ang aking produkto sa iba’t-ibang lugar dahil sa mga aktibidad ng program (I sincerely thank SLP because it gave us hope to revive our business, I was also given the opportunity to let others try product in different places because of the program’s activities),” said Cecilia.

Cecilia used the LAG to start her enterprise again. She bought ingredients and equipment. She also applied her learnings from basic orientation on financial management and from social marketing activities in promoting her product.

Now that her enterprise was revived from the pandemic, customers can now be seen lining up again to satisfy their cravings. With sufficient business knowledge and strong determination, Cecilia now continues to serve her unique recipe of the classic pinoy merienda.(by John Chris B. Zureta, Project Development Officer II / Social Marketing Officer – Sustainable Livelihood Program)