Restop with a mission

MANILA, Philippines – Strategically located between the Quirino Grandstand and Museo Pambata, Mabuhay Restop, brainchild  of owner Rose Cabrera, offers unique tours, a menu filled with her family’s favorites, an art gallery, a gift shop and cultural shows to provide an “exceptional Philippine experience” not only for foreigners but Filipinos themselves.

“Everything here is a conversation piece,” Cabrera beams.

The moment guests walk into the café, products from different social enterprises all over the country greet them – coconut wines from Tacloban, handwoven baskets of the vanishing Batak tribe in Palawan, vintage Philippine coins and handwoven T’nalak pieces, among others.

Intricate artworks by renowned Filipino artists are also on display – Ramon Orlina (glass sculpture), Nemi Miranda, Al Perez and Joey Velasco (painting), Ugu Bigyan (pottery), Rafael Pacheco (finger-painting), Badz Magsumbol (papercut), Rudy de Leon  and Emil Davocol (photography), Egai Fernandez (mixed media), Rey Paz Contreras (wood sculpture), Eduardo Mutuc (metal sculpture), among others – in a restaurant that also serves as a museum.

On the second floor, vibrant stained glass artworks of Bicolano painter Pancho Piano provide the backdrop for the buffet table adorned by Pis Syabit weaves from Sulu. Mats from Basey, Samar and placemats from Gawad Kalinga Sunshineville in Las Piñas City are the centerpieces of the long and small wooden tables arranged carefully for the guests to appreciate.

“It’s all about cultural heroism,” Cabrera explains. “And convergence,” pointing out that by introducing these local products to their clients, communities are being built and lives of both the underprivileged and indigenous peoples are being transformed.

Balikbayan ako. Every time I would go to the Philippines in the past, I noticed that there were not many places in Manila highlighting Philippine arts and culture,” Cabrera, who left for the US when she was only 17, says.

“I wanted a one-stop shop where even just for a few hours or one hour, people would have a glimpse of the beauty of Philippine culture.”

Cabrera was a lawyer in the US who came back in 2008 after joining GK Community Development Foundation Inc. full time in 2003 while still in America. She gave up her high-paying job and even her Mercedes Benz to be part of GK, a movement aimed at ending poverty by first restoring the dignity of the poor. 

She says she would like to develop pride among Filipinos by making them aware of and interested in their own culture.

“Our hindrance as a nation in developing our fullest potential is the lack of cultural identity. When you really think about it, if you bring Filipinos abroad, they excel…but how come in our own country, there’s such a lack of cultural pride?” Cabrera asks.

“I do not want tours just for the visitors but also for the people they visit. For example, (the people) in Bukidnon or Isabela, they feel so good when tourists pay so much to go there and spend their hard-earned vacation with them.”

But these will be more than educational tours.

“Beyond the usual sightseeing, you will have local artisan experiences, storytellers in Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor and Cordillera next year. Even if you’re not a foreigner…there is so much to gain from these experiences… You come away a much richer person, not just a much richer Filipino,” Cabrera stresses.

Asked why some Filipinos could not be proud enough of their country, restaurant manager Marilyn Salvacion offers an explanation: “For someone like me who was raised in Smokey Mountain and saw only the misery around me before I joined GK and (eventually the restaurant), how could I possibly talk about the beauty of my country that I myself had not seen because of my situation?”

Cabrera agrees that one’s circumstances could affect the way he or she would feel about his or her country.

Cabrera conceptualized Mabuhay Restop with such consideration in mind – to make people fall in love with the Philippines and its people by experiencing its beauty in diversity.

And more. “For me it all comes down to giving care… When you restore pride in your country (and) culture, other things will fall into place,” Cabrera says.

As head of GKonomics that promotes social entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihood that do not leave the poor behind, Cabrera expressed belief that if this would become the norm, “you won’t find as many people who would feel that way and would say ‘huwag ka dun, magulo dun (don’t go there, it’s chaotic)’.” 

Thirty percent of the restaurant’s profit goes to GK. Cabrera’s husband, who first opposed her joining GK full-time, “is the funder of the mission.”

Interestingly, the owner and manager met when Cabrera moved back here in 2008 and Salvacion worked as a GK volunteer teaching members of the Smokey Mountain community to become productive citizens.

Cabrera graduated from the UCLA School of Law, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems (magna cum laude), with minors in Public Administration and Speech Communication from California Polytechnic State University. She practiced commercial law in LA for 10 years and served as executive director for GK Foundation USA from 2002 to 2008, spearheading and growing GK there.

Meanwhile, Salvacion’s family ended up in Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila in 1992 after their father, a fisherman, decided to relocate from Tacloban due to lack of opportunities.

“Life’s difficult here in Manila but it was worse in the province. There was nothing there. Here my father was able to sell all sorts of things to make ends meet, like charcoal,” Salvacion shares.

She finished a management course from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines as a scholar but her daily allowance for food and transportation was a struggle for her parents.

Salvacion was the only one in the brood who strived hard to finish college. She still lives in one of the buildings in Smokey Mountain named after a friend of Cabrera in the US, whom they helped raise funds for projects in the former dumpsite.

“(When I met her), it was like (coming) full circle,” Cabrera says, describing Salvacion as the realization of their dream and “what the work is all about” in terms of lifting people’s lives.

Smokey Mountain, now known as GK Paradise Heights, was a smoking heap of garbage that became an international symbol of poverty. The dumpsite was shut down by the government in 1990 due to its hazardous effects to the environment and a low-cost housing project was established.

Salvacion started working as GKonomics staff in 2010 and was hired by Cabrera for the Mabuhay Restop when it was put up in 2013. She rose from the ranks – becoming a tour director and manager.

“I saw her potential. She’s industrious, trustworthy, has the ability. Given the opportunity, she can go far,” Cabrera says of Salvacion, now 30.

Cabrera admits she asked Salvacion if it would be okay to tell her story. Salvacion says there is nothing to be ashamed of about her humble beginnings as she was raised well by her parents, who also supported and worked hard for her dream.

With Salvacion as inspiration, Cabrera hopes to start with the young in inculcating love of country and its culture and traditions.

For their tours, children will be brought to Museo Pambata or Rizal Park to learn about the national hero, while both the young and old can experience the Philippines by going to a GK village and other tourist spots.

The Pinoy kiddie party package brings back memories for the not-so-young who grew up in the provinces. Childhood then was about playing traditional games with neighborhood kids on the street, under the sun or the moon and the stars. Now the birthday child and guests can try a sack race, agawan base, tumbang preso, sipa, piko, taguan, luksong tinik, sawsaw suka and bayong relay.

Other shows include Manilla Vanilla, a comedy musical about the preparations of a family about to open up their home as a bed and breakfast, told through entertaining dialogues and fantastic singing.  Philippine folk dances like Pandanggo sa Ilaw, Sayaw sa Bangko, Manglalatik, Itik-Itik and Tinikling are incorporated throughout the show.  Manila Vanilla is written and directed by Nestor Torre, with music from Ryan Cayabyab. 

Cook-a-Loka is a fun and interactive show featuring a zany singing cook preparing a full-course Filipino meal. The chef and his assistants intersperse the cooking demonstration with lively and interesting songs and dances, in which the audience is invited to participate. Audience members also help in preparing dishes that they get to taste in the end. 

Aside from highlighting Filipino dishes, the show creatively introduces the concept of social entrepreneurship through “golden eggs” (a healthier alternative to red salted eggs) and “Bayani brew” (all Filipino iced tea), which originated from the GK Enchanted Farm in Bulacan. 

The menu also has personal touches. Cabrera, the youngest of 12 siblings, served her own specialty – Chicken Alexander, among other favorite dishes of their family.

Chef Ed Garcia also has his own special contribution to the menu: palabok tisay. “We gave the dish that name because it did not have the usual orange sauce of palabok. It’s white but it’s very tasty.”

Another unique creation is the Mabuhay Fiesta salad that mixes lettuce greens with grilled shrimp, peppers, cheese, olives, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes and cucumber in vinaigrette dressing.  

When I was having a business presentation, people were telling me it was confusing because it was a bit of everything. But that is how I envisioned it. It turns out the ideas seem easy but the execution is not,” Cabrera confesses.

But so far, things are good. She will be hiring a marketing consultant though to make the business thrive further and be able to provide assistance to a lot more people. The lawyer-turned-volunteer realizes it could not be all “heart and spirit.”

Cabrera hopes to see a Mabuhay Restop branch in airports and other popular spots.

“We still have a long way to go, both in business and helping others. What we want is for the whole community to have a better life so it’s a work in progress. We just have to continue to make them feel we are not separated from them, we’re all one family,” Cabrera says.