Malolos is a place where nationhood and good food meet. The First Philippine Republic was inaugurated at the Barasoain Church on January 23, 1899. With it came a feast where among those served to guests was the Ensaymada, a soft-dough bread with sugar spread and salted egg on top. That banquet featured leaf art designs locally known as Puni.
𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁
In the 1990s, culinary historian Milagros Enriquez spearheaded the revival of heritage food or the Pamanang Kaluto. And to make the experience more authentic, she teamed up with Puni weaver Gigi Garcia in the preparation of the banquet table.
Gigi became the mother-in-law of Jonnah. She gave her a bouquet made of Puni as a wedding gift in 2013. Jonnah was impressed and asked Gigi to teach her how to weave so she could start making this a business.
“At first, my mother-in-law was hesitant to train me because she knows the difficulty in weaving and the scarcity of raw materials,” Gigi recalled.
Finally, Jonnah convinced her mother-in-law to train her to make Puni along with a new generation of women in Malolos including the late Nicanora Hernandez, who also became a popular tele-culinary historian and fellow heritage-advocate.
𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹-𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿
Seeing the opportunity, Jonnah resigned from her job in a private company to become a full-time entrepreneur. “We established Punique Handicraft. Initially, it attracted about 200 women who were trained to make Puni. Around 20 of them became full-time Punikeras,” Jonnah said.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provided assistance to Jonnah by inviting her to participate in various trade fairs including the Likha ng Central Luzon at SM Megamall. She also became a mentee and eventually a mentor in DTI’s Kapatid Mentor Me Program.
“Punique Handicraft also became part of the One Town, One Product (OTOP) Next Generation Program wherein DTI assisted us in intellectual property registration and improvement of our packaging and labeling,” Jonnah furthered.
Puni products were likewise exported in various areas worldwide including Hong Kong, United Arab Emirates, and the United States through the help of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions.
𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆
DTI OIC-Assistant Regional Director and concurrent Bulacan Provincial Director Edna Dizon said Jonnah is a concrete proof that there’s a wealth in developing micro, small and medium enterprises in the Creative Industry.
Dizon also emphasized the timely enactment and implementation of Republic Act 11904, otherwise known as the Philippine Creative Industry Development Act, to support this kind of livelihood and develop more.
The Punikeras are now earning at least P5,000 monthly during the non-peak season and from P10,000 to P15,000 during the peak season.
𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Go Negosyo recognized Jonnah as “Most Promising Micro Entrepreneur.” She was one of the 19 Outstanding Filipina Entrepreneurs out of more than 700 entries nationwide. First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos handed the award to her during the annual Go Negosyo Women Summit which was supported by DTI and co-presented with the Embassy of the United States of America to the Philippines.
Governor Daniel Fernando also conferred to her the Natatanging Babae during the Gawad Medalyang Ginto 2024. The honor is annually bestowed by the provincial government of Bulacan to outstanding individuals and groups who made an impact in different sectors.
Jonnah’s Punique is truly unique as it preserves local heritage and empowers women while penetrating local and international markets. (PIA 3)
PHOTO CAPTIONS
02A
𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎ℎ 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑖, 𝑎 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑖ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛. (Shane F. Velasco/PIA 3)
02B
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. (PUNIQUE FB page)
02C
𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑃5,000 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑃10,000 𝑡𝑜 𝑃15,000 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛. (Shane F. Velasco/PIA 3)
02D
𝐺𝑜 𝑁𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑠𝑦𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑠 𝐽𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎ℎ 𝐺𝑎𝑟𝑐𝑖𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑠 (6𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡) 𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 19 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝐸𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑠. (First Lady Liza Marcos FB page)
