“Daghan ganahan sa mga nagpuyo diri sa Caohagan ganahan sa among pan bisaya nga sila pa gani ang mo follow up namo nga magluto mi, sila gyu’y mo una og ingon namo ana. Mao ng nadasig pud mi nga maghimo og pan. Tungod ana, adunay dugang kalambuan sa among asosayon diri sa Caohagan (Many from our neighborhood like the bread. Actually they are the ones who tell us to make bread and encourage us to do our best every single day. Because of that support from the community, we became fruitful),” said Minerva Manoy, Caohagan Pan Bisaya Sustainable Livelihood Program Association (SLPA) Treasurer.
The Caohagan Pan Bisaya SLPA is situated in Brgy. Caohagan, Olango Island, Lapu-Lapu City. The association is composed of 48 members with 5 men and 43 women who are doing the business.
Since the members are living in the island, most of them rely their main source of income through fishing. This kind of hard work does not guarantee enough earnings for their day-to-day needs.
In May 2016, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) granted the Caohagan Pan Bisaya SLPA the amount of Php278,037.40 for the association to venture another livelihood project. The group officially started their business in July of the same year.
Since then, the group has found loyal customers for their bread. Some are local and others are foreigners like Korean, Japanese and American tourists visiting the island. For over 2 years of running the business, the members see the progress of their Pan Bisaya livelihood project.
But, what is really Pan bisaya?
“Ang ilang asosasyon sa SLP naggamit og pugon o tradisyonal nga pamaagi sa pagluto og pan bisaya. Nag dugang sab sila og ispisyal nga sagol sama sa tuno ug desiccated coconut. Pan bisaya kini tungod sa ilang pamaagi sa pagluto (The association call it pan bisaya because they use a traditional kiln in making bread and they add special ingredients like coconut milk and desiccated coconut to make the bread more flavorful),” said Chuck G. Mutia, SLP Monitoring Project Development Officer.
With this, Brgy. Captain Ranilo C. Abayan of Caohagan supports the SLPA by allowing them to use the store area for free with corresponding memorandum of agreement. This has inspired the group to make pan bisaya daily.
The encouragement they get from the community folks and from the tourists is one of the reasons why the lives of the members become more productive.
The way they manage the business helps the members benefit from it together with their families.
Sukad naabot ang SLPA diri, dako gyud nig natabang namo kay tungod nga sa wala pani sya, dili gyud mi kahibalo mo gama og mga pan, di mi kahibaw mugama anang unsay mga menu, procedure ani niya. Kung ang mga membro maglisod gani unya wala sila’y lain magamit, makaduol gyud sila sa asosasyon kay naa man silay madawat nga ginansya (Since SLPA came to our place, it has helped us a lot. Before, we had no idea about the ingredients and how to process this bread. When it came, it helped improve the lives of the members whenever they need some amount for their families), said Minerva Manoy, SLPA Treasurer.
Dako kaayo mi’g pasalamat sa mga kadagkoan sa DSWD nga sila usa pud nga ni padasig kanamo nga kining asosasyon ma improve gyud. Kay bisan kalisod pag-atubang ani sama aning sa dakong bawod, sila mauri gyud aron mugiya namo unsaon pagpalambo aning asosayon (Our heartfelt gratitude to DSWD region 7 for their encouragement. Despite the difficulties the DSWD workers would encounter like the big waves to the island and vice versa, they still come over to help us in strengthening the association),” said Blisilda A. Mellino, SLPA President.
The association will continue to strive hard to make Caohagan Pan Bisaya SLPA a productive and successful one. ###
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