M E M O R I E S: Life and Time of Pastor Rudy Bernal,his Glimpses on History & the People;s Struggle for Freedom
Chapter 51– We started a small business, selling Salted Peanuts, Boiled Peanuts, Banana Cakes, Cupcakes and Brownies in Iloilo City and learning the arts & technics of selling…
My letter of resignation from CPBC due to conflict with its leadership was effective 60 days after I sent the letter. We started a very small business October 1987. We need it to be able to to earn something for our food and other basic necessities. It was very hard to be jobless, after 12 years of being employed. It was not easy for me to go back to work in the church under the situations of the time. I cannot think of anything to do to earn an income, except to go selling. And selling something to eat as snacks, I think, a bit easier for me.
I talked with my wife, Hesther. “I am now jobless and we have two small children to care. What shall we do?”
We studied our alternatives. She knew some baking. She always bake Banana Cakes. She said, she knew how to make Salted Peanuts. And her sister Mrs. Rosea Saplada, in Bacolod City has a small bakeshop. They produced and delivered Cupcakes and Brownies in Bacolod City, down to Victorias City in the North and reaching Kabanakalan City in the South. Hesther called her up and discussed sending some of her products to Iloilo City.
That day, we decided we will produce Salted Peanuts. Three kinds of Salted Peanuts – the Ordinary. The hot Salted Peanuts. And the Very Hot Salted Salted Peanuts. We decided to bake Banana Cakes. We have a small a small handy gas-operated Oven. Hesther used this to make cakes for the children. We have a young man, 14 years old, a student in high school, who was living with us.
We gave him some allowance. We asked him to help us make Salted Peanuts and other peanut products and Banana Cakes. Also helping us was Daday, Hesther’s relative who helped care for our younger son will also helped us produce our products. I will deliver our products two times a week. We will produced our products late afternoons and evenings.
We studied our business methods. We will sell our products on consignment. We will leave the products to the stores. We will changed the unsold items. We started making Salted Peanuts on Sunday evenings.
We will go to church Sunday mornings. And Saturdays we will prepare all the peanuts we will make. Then, I will deliver it on Monday morning. It will be in the market for 3 days. Then, on Thursday morning, we will deliver new peanut products, pull-out those which were not sold. Collect the sales the past week. Then, I deliver new stocks of Salted Peanuts.
We have three kinds of salted peanuts for sale. The ordinary Peanuts. The Hot Peanuts. And the Very Hot Peanuts. The very hot salted peanuts were intended for those who drink beers. We put native peppers on our salted peanuts. The many the small peppers, the more hot… the peanuts become.
On Tuesdays, we made Banana Cakes. This could go through until Saturdays. We make collections on Saturdays. Then, we get the returned items. The returned banana cakes, I brought home as feeds for our two piglets. I bought 2 paper bags to put our items for sale. I carry the two paper bags to the passenger jeepenys and deliver our products to possible sales outlets. There were different outlets opened for our venture – big, medium and small outlets around Iloilo City. We also deliver our salted peanuts and banana cakes to sidewalk vendors.
Our strategy for selling? We started at CPU Student Enterprise. There we deliver Cupcakes and Brownies. We deliver also to some small stores inside CPU. We distribute to several stores are the front of CPU. At the back of CPU church, there were many homes, and some have stores. There we deliver salted peanuts and banana cakes. Around Jaro Plaza there were a number of sidewalks vendors. We consigned to them salted peanuts and our banana cakes.
We got Iloilo Mission Hospital canteen to get our Cupcakes, Brownies and Banana Cakes. We consigned to them also Salted Peanuts. There were several stores at the back of the hospital where several stores were around. We delivered our goods at 3 canteens of Iloilo National High School, two canteens at Don Benito Hospital, and two canteens each at West Visayas State College and Western Institute of Technogy. Along the way, we drop our products at several vendors.
Inside and around La Paz Plaza and La Paz store, we were able to deliver our goods both to small stores and street vendors. We sold at Provincial Capitol, Philippine National Bank canteen, St. Paul’s Hospital canteens and at different stores along the highway. We delivered at University of San Agustin, University of the Philippines, Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital canteen and stores nearby stores like “4th of July” and other stores along San Agustin Unieversity.
At Plaza Libertad we have vendors that sell our products. Iloilo City Hall canteen, Development Bank of the Philippines, to venders near Ker & Brothers, inside City Hall and vendors at the seaside areas to the port goint to Guimaras. And we leave our products to vendors along Plaza Libertad and stores around. Then we moved to roads to the pier, where many vendors sale our Banana Cakes and Salted Peanuts.
Then, we moved on to the areas in Mandurriao with two small canteens at West Visayas Hospital and in small stores along the Mandurriaw highway. We saturated the different places around the Housing subdivisions.
After six months, we bought a 2rd or 3rd Hand Jeepney from Mr. Ramos, who stood as sponsors on our Weeding Day. He sold me his jeepney for P20,000. We paid P5,000 down payment. And the remaining amount, payable in 6 months time. We still carry our paper bag, but only from the jeepney to the stores.
We also got business to two stores at West Visayas Hospital in Mandurrriao and in small stores along the highway. We sold our products at the Iloilo Airport and several stores around. There, we deliver lots of Cupcakes and Brownies. We saturated the different places around the Housing subdivisions and stores near Iloilo Airport.
Then, we moved on to Molo and some areas nearby and around.
In a year time, we have about 106 outlets selling our products on consignment. And during all those time, their was no outlet that were not able to pay the consignment we gave them. Every 3 days after delivery of Banana Cakes, and one week after delivery of Salted Peanuts, Cupcakes and Brownies, the payments were made ready for for our collection and another delivery.
I was during this time, I discovered how business works. Producing and selling food items were continuous. For daily, men, women, youth and children eats…and always they eat, somethings. And money comes, just small amount, but continuous. This was after our sixth month time, when our deliveries were scheduled daily, in 6 different areas of Iloilo City.
We discovered, God’s grace was sufficient for us. And, it was a really hard, hard works.
It was during this time, with a little money we saved, we started to think of opening a Radio Broadcast ministry again. Hesther and I were in Radio Ministry for some time in in Bacolod City. And we thought of starting a radio ministry again. To reached out to them, thru the Air Lanes, was a ministry opened for me at that time.
I negotiated with Radio DYRP, for a 30-Minutes radio broadcast once a week. The manager gave me, 5:00-5:30 PM every Wednesday, where “Hour of Discovery” will be broadcast every Wednesday late afternoon.
Two weeks before our maiden “Hour of Discovery” broadcast, we made some Flyers, a whole Short Bond Paper, which was photo copied and sent to CPBC churches in Iloilo City and Iloilo province. We sent also copies of our announcement to other churches in Iloilo City and the province.
The following week, we sent copies of “Hour of Discovery” announcement to Convention Baptist Churches in Capiz, Aklan and Antique. Then we sent copy of our announcements to our friends who were PiC Priests in Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Antique. We tried to reach out to churches, telling them “Hour of Discovery’ has On the Air.
When, we were about to re-start “Hour of Discovery” broadcast, many churches in Iloilo and Panay have took hold of our announcements and knew we will soon be On the Air. God, we believe was leading us to this special Christian ministry.
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