Kalayaan’s first bakery, coffee shop now open

MANILA, Philippines - Civilian residents and soldiers in far-flung Kalayaan town on Pag-asa Island in the Spratlys can now avail themselves of pan de sal and other breads following last week’s opening of the first-ever bakery and coffee shop in town.

Owned and operated by lady entrepreneur Mary Joy Gilbuena Batiancilla, Pag-asa Bakery and Café started catering to the bread needs of around 200 civilian residents and their children as well as soldiers deployed on the island.

“I decided to put up a bakery because everybody here, including me, eats bread only when on the mainland (Palawan),” Batiancilla said in a phone interview.

Still lacking equipment and with no helper yet, Batiancilla initially produced 200 to 300 pieces of bread from an improvised oven fashioned out of a used drum assembled with the help of civilian residents.

She said business is on the upswing as most soldiers and  civilian families place advance orders of pan de sal, ensaymada and pan de coco for their children’s snacks in school.

Each pan de sal costs P3 at Batiancilla’s Pag-asa Bakery and Café, which is located in a makeshift hut fronting the white sand beach of the island town.

Despite the brisk business, Batiancilla has to deal with the challenges in operating her bakery. Her electronic flour mixer only runs at night as electricity is supplied in the entire island during the evening until midnight. She also has to have a bakery helper.

“I am now targeting to produce 600 to 800 pieces of different kinds of bread because the current 200 to 300 pieces are not enough,” Batiancilla said, adding that she is also thinking of acquiring an oven to replace the improvised one, to cope with rising demand.

She recounted that one morning, a grade school pupil even cried and refused to go to school because his parents were late in buying him his baon of daily bread.

To appease the child and convince him to attend school, Batiancilla had to make just one piece for the disappointed kid.

Soldiers also frequent her place to have their early morning fare of pan de sal and coffee.

Supplies like flour, sugar and other ingredients needed by the newly opened bakery come from the mainland through air and military or civilian boats.

She said she is planning to buy an automatic coffee mixer for her bakery, but she presently does not have the budget.

Aside from the islanders and soldiers, Pag-asa Island is being frequented by fishermen for their needed potable water and would stay in the area for a day or two.

Since the fifth class municipality of Palawan was established 38 years ago, breads are considered precious fare, much more the poor man’s bread of salt for both civilians and soldiers on the island.