Davao del Sur celebrates 58th foundation day

 

By Jinggoy I. Salvador

Davao del Sur is the gateway to the country’s highest peak, Mt. Apo, where thrill-seekers climb for leisure and athletes compete in the Boulder Challenge, one of the country’s most challenging events. Towering at 2,954 meters above sea level, the mountain rewards its victors with breathtaking vistas imprinted in memory to last a lifetime.

Mt. Apo is just one of the many gifts that the “Maanyag nga Paraiso” (beautiful paradise) of Davao del Sur can offer. Spanning nine municipalities and one component city, this province is a land of rich natural resources, destinations, an art sanctuary, and a well-preserved cultural heritage. It’s a tourist’s paradise—and an investor’s promised land.

Since its founding day in 1967, Davao del Sur has become one of the most progressive provinces in the Philippines. Thanks to good governance and empowered citizens, it has achieved its vision of becoming an agri-industrialized, commercial, eco-tourism, and risk-resilient province—and it continues to grow.

Under the administration of the first lady governor, Gov. Yvonne Roño Cagas, the province remained true to its mission and vision. Over the past year, significant progress has been made in expanding and modernizing Davao del Sur’s medical, educational, sports, and agricultural programs and facilities.

Serving Davao del Sur for another term, the lady governor shared her plans on the 58th Anniversary Foundation Day celebration. “This year, one of my major plans is to hasten the purchase of relocation sites in the different areas of the province,” she said. “These shall be turned into villages and awarded to the landless.”

Among the many festivals and events in the province, the most anticipated is the annual foundation day. It’s when the entire population takes part in the exciting week-long celebration that the provincial government has organized. The most popular and well-attended affair is the Mutya ng Davao del Sur pageant, where citizens from all over the province fill the stadium to support their candidates.

Winning the crown in this prestigious pageant means embracing civic duties and promoting the province. “The Mutya ng Davao del Sur is one of our strategic ways to promote tourism, particularly in mounting world-class events where people can enjoy and be enticed to come and visit the province,” said Kervin Joseph Elijay, provincial tourism officer. “It gives an economic opportunity and benefit, particularly to MSMEs and private investors, who build their business for tourism purposes.”

judges Designer Edgar Buyan, Bb. Pilipinas Supranational 2018 Jehza Huelar, shoe designer Jojo Bragais, COO of Joji International Schools Nicole Hao Bian Ledesma, Theia Gems founder Kristine Joy Agcopra, and the author

Judges Designer Edgar Buyan, Bb. Pilipinas Supranational 2018 Jehza Huelar, shoe designer Jojo Bragais, COO of Joji International Schools Nicole Hao Bian Ledesma, Theia Gems founder Kristine Joy Agcopra, and the author

Vice Governor Mark Cagas and Governor Yvonne Roña-Cagas

2024 Mutya passes her crown to 2025 Mutya Angela Yvonne H. Wabingga as Governor Yvonne Roña-Cagas looks on

From every town and sector, empowered, beautiful, intelligent, and eloquent women rise as storytellers, dreamers, and symbols of the resilient Davsuranon spirit. Besting 21 other candidates, Angela Yvonne H. Wabingga earned the coveted Mutya ng Davao del Sur 2025 crown. Completing her court were Hannah Mary G. Kolencheril (first runner-up), Fredelma Nova T. Corporal (second runner-up), Danna Mitchelle Ruelo (third runner-up), and Nichole P. Mandalones (fourth runner-up).

Adding even more sparkle to the evening were Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, who served as an inspiring co-host, and singer Michael Pangilinan, who serenaded the candidates and the cheering crowd.

Davao cheese queen’s new 'chambre à fromage'

BY MB LIFESTYLE

Oct 15, 2024 10:57 PM

  

---

By Jinggoy I. Salvador

If you love cheese, then you know Olive Puentespina, Davao’s queen of cheese. It’s an honorific she doesn’t acknowledge. She would likely say, “All I did was create cheese because Marvin, Jolina and Rica, my husband’s three goats I took under my care, were fast multiplying.” What to do with the milk? Bottle and sell it? Make soap? Make cheese! And the rest is history, as the proverbial phrase goes.

ALL HAIL Davao's cheese queenn Olive Puentespina at the new & bigger Leon's Lounge

Olive’s journey to cheese royalty is unlike any monarchical protocol where the next in line inherits the crown. She worked her way to where she is now by learning the ABCs of dairying and cheese making under the tutelage of many, including Swiss masters. Her thirst for knowledge brought her to the US, Mongolia, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, and in each destination she learned more.

Back home, the kitchen was where all the magic started. In 2005, Olive dove into the process.“Developing a new cheese is not easy but is definitely exciting. Some fresh cheeses took me months to develop, most aged cheeses a year or two because it takes time to age them into the perfect morsel. The most important process is knowing the character of each component so you can manipulate them to contribute to the product you envision,” she shares.

A year after, in 2006, the fromager’s cheeses debuted under the Puentespina Farm enterprise of the family matriarch. The first cheese variety she created, the Feta, along with other dairy products were delivered directly to restaurants, hotels, resorts and an airline. In 2008, the company was incorporated giving birth to the Malagos Farmhouse brand, and a few years after, the first retail store in Davao was inaugurated.

Today, the cheesemaker is proud to say that her handmade cheeses— GMP certified by the FDA—graces the tables of state dinners and retails in over 80 establishments across the country. Olive believes that she started European style artisan cheese making in the Philippines.

For Olive, the Chevre is one of her best and most exciting creations. It made her dive deep into the different cheese bacteria and the processes that needed to work together to create the aroma, the texture and the taste of Malagos Farmhouse Chevre. 

CHEESE HEAVEN How a cheese party spread looks like at Leon's Lounge

The Chevre may be a favorite of the brand’s institutional partners, but the bestseller has always been the Mango Sublime. It’s a fresh French-style cheese that Olive created for the long-haul business class flights of the Philippine flag carrier. “A quintessential French fresh cheese but with an iconic Philippine fruit,” she says, and adding to the top-selling list, “Another is our Sophia, a soft feta, aged in garlic infused olive oil.”

When asked the number of cheeses she conceived and does she have a favorite, she replies, “The cheeses that I have created from 2005 to 2024 numbers around 27 and I am so proud of each. The cheeses hit different people in certain ways.”

As the awareness for artisanal cheeses grew, the inkling to establish a cheese tasting room started in the cheesemaker’s consciousness.

Named after the Puentespina patriarch, the first Leon’s Lounge opened its doors in 2014 in the far corner of the corporate address along Bolcan Street in Agdao. It was in this modest sized room that Olive welcomed guests who wanted to experience enjoying artisanal Filipino-made cheeses. Each session is pre booked, set at “five thirsty” in the afternoon, seven kinds of cheeses are featured and the inspiration behind each creation is shared. The cheeses are served with breads, salad, local seasonal jams and a whole lot of stories from operating a farm-to-fork dairy enterprise to travels and inspirations.      

CREAMY DELIGHT The tasting room also displays the Malagos Farmhouse cheese collection for sale

“One of the things I am proud of is we welcome everyone to our table. If only the walls can speak, they will paint a very colorful collage of personalities who enjoyed the tasting sessions. But my lips are sealed. How many over  the years? Not to many, over a thousand for sure. But all left with happy faces and full bellies.”

Recently, a new and bigger tasting room was opened in the same address. The new location was the clinic of her late husband. “So many beautiful memories there, for the family and those who received the unique healing of Dr. Bo. I wanted to honor his memories and build new ones in the space,” shared Olive. The room was refurbished and repurposed into the new lounge that included bigger retail space for the cheeses. The latest Leon’s Lounge can accommodate eight to 25 guests comfortably for private tastings and parties. 

MILE HIGH SPREAD. The Mango Sublime served in Business Class of the flag carrier is also the brand's bestseller

The future of Malagos Farmhouse cheeses? Her daughter, Ingrid, is now on board and following her mother’s footsteps. She is  developing a new line this year which will include cheeses, butter and whey-based products. As to when, Olive cannot preempt the news but it will be announced when all are ready. Leon’s Lounge will display these new creations by Ingrid Puentespina, along with the original collection.

“It will be an exciting new era for Malagos Farmhouse, home of Davao’s artisan cheeses,” declares Davao’s cheese queen.

SOPHIA A soft feta, aged in garlic infused olive oil, is one of the top-selling cheeses.jpg