The Nacionalista Party (NP) together with its partners, Villar SIPAG, Sipag at Tiyaga
Foundation, and Vista Land selected 60 promising entrepreneurs out of thousands that responded
to the 2009 search of “Pondo sa Sipag, Puhunan sa Tiyaga” in awarding ceremonies held at the NBC
tent at The Fort, Global City in Taguig.
The award aims to promote entrepreneurship as a way of combating poverty.
The 2009 national winners receiving a capital grant of Php100,000 each were Rufo dela Cruz of
Calasiao, Pangasinan (Bella’s Puto Calasiao) and Elisa Tomas of Quirino (Melizabeth Food Products).
The other awardees were given P20,000 each to boost there available capital.
The northern and central Luzon awardees were:
Carlo Balneg (Abra)
Dominador Codio (Benguet)
Sr. Gabriela Dargiwan (Kalinga)
Valentino Vicerra (Apayao)
Angelina Tagay (Ilocos Norte)
Elisa Abaya (Ilocos Sur)
Romy Urbano (La Union)
Armando Macatuggal (Quirino)
Marvin Mapote (Isabela)
Perlita Tiburcio (Nueva Vizcaya)
Lucila Eugenio (Nueva Ecija)
Conchita Hernandez (Aurora)
Rodolfo Molina (Tarlac)
Pamela Santos (Bataan)
Remedios Udad (Pampanga)
Prisco del Moro (Bulacan)
The winners from Southern Luzon were:
Ramelito Barte (Quezon)
Liza Perez (Laguna)
Josephine Tacasa (Oriental Mindoro)
Francisco Aranda (Sorsogon)
Gregorio Basallote (Camarines Sur)
Andres Canada (Camarines Norte)
Asah Conde (Masbate)
Imelda Dado Moratillo (Albay)
Floro Teano (Catanduanes)
The lone awardee from the National Capital Region was Susana Santiago of Valenzuela City.
Winners from Visayas region were:
Meraluna Pascadero (Negros Oriental)
Marybeth and Gabriel Sanoria (Cebu)
Amy Alico (Southern Leyte)
Joel Marquez (Leyte)
Lorna Celespara (Northern Samar)
Delita Montes (Eastern Samar)
The awardees from Mindanao were:
Eric Philip Macaso (Zamboanga City)
Edgardo Tagalogon (Zamboanga Sibugay)
Jubella Acera (Camiguin)
Lilia Caga-anan (Misamis Oriental)
Dionesia dela Pena (Misamis Occidental)
Ofelia Gamao (Bukidnon)
Rufina Anunciado (Davao del Norte)
Reynaldo Deodor (Davao City)
Florita Duag (Compostella Valley)
Fe Sarabillo (Davao del Sur)
Camilo Falcis (South Cotabato)
Margarita Abaquita (Agusan del Norte)
Jonathan Abayon (Agusan del Sur)
Romeo Amahan (Surigao del Norte)
Henry Capangpangan (Dinagat Island)
Leah Labordo (Surigao del Sur)
A select group of winners were named under the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) category:
Gemma Victoria (La Union)
Elisa Tomas (Quirino)
Trinidad and Mario Yabes (Nueva Ecija)
Romero Escio (Camarines Norte)
Gregorio Palermo (Iloilo)
Rosario Bation (Misamis Occidental)
Rokaiya Kasan (South Cotabato)
Zenaida Acaso (Basilan)
Julia Buteng (Benguet)
Leornardo Beniga (Agusan del Norte)
Nimfa Sagaral (Surigao del Norte)
As Sipag at Tiyaga Foundation Chairman and Nacionalista Party President, Senator Manny Villar
extols, “The awardees exemplify the collective spirit of the Filipinos in overcoming their limitations,
handicaps, and personal tragedies. In the process of transforming themselves, they create positive
ripple effects on their local communities, quietly and mostly without fanfare.”
To inspire more people to make their own stories “success stories”, a brief life chronicle of the awardees
are featured in the book Stories (2009 Awardees).*
*[To request for a free copy of the book, please write your request to the Villar SIPAG with your
complete name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address.]