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 to various areas worldwide including Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, with the help of the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions.