Filipa Maldora attending to her Criollo seedling nursery. (Photo from Filipa Maldora)
Filipa Maldora, 51, was a mother struggling to make ends meet before she became an award-winning agripreneur.
Like many women in her hometown of Sagbayan, Bohol, an agricultural town 76.5 kilometers from Tagbilaran City, she farmed and raised livestock to support her family.
Seeking better opportunities, Maldora left her four children in 2006 to work in Hong Kong and Macau.
Her time abroad was cut short after two years when her youngest child’s health required her return.
In October 2013, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake devastated her family’s farm, forcing Maldora to seek employment as a household service worker in Kuwait in 2015.
“There is an OWWA program offering scholarships for children of OFWs. I insisted on going abroad so I could avail of it for my children,” she said, referring to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Life in Kuwait tested Maldora’s limits. She endured harsh working conditions, adjusting to foreign food and climate, working nearly around the clock, and sleeping on floor.
“I endured watching over five children who were not mine, while my own four children were left behind,” she said, her voice heavy with maternal sacrifice.
Her perseverance paid off when her eldest child graduated from Bohol Island State University through the OWWA scholarship program.
However, her employer pressured her to extend her contract beyond the initial two years.
“She would not let me go home after two years if I did not sign a new contract. I was forced to sign a new contract, since I also planned to avail of a scholarship for my second child,” Maldora said.
Despite her employer’s promises of yearly home visits and improved living conditions, the commitments were never fulfilled. The breaking point came when Maldora learned her child back home was frequently fainting and needed medical attention the family could not afford.
She fled her employer’s home.
Coinciding with a deployment ban in Kuwait, Maldora returned to the Philippines through OWWA’s repatriation program on March 25, 2018. She saw it as a fresh start.
Upon her return, she applied for OWWA’s Balik Pinas, Balik Hanapbuhay program, receiving ₱20,000 as capital for a new venture.
Under the guidance of Nestor Saludo of Villa Cortes de Saludo Eco Farm and the Plantacion de Sikwate Cacao Producers Association in Cebu, she cultivated cacao seedlings and mastered grafting techniques.
“The money I earned abroad, I can also earn here in the Philippines because it depends on how to work with it,” she said.
Maldora’s timing was fortuitous. The Department of Agriculture was promoting cacao production as a priority program.
“It was like catching the right boat at the right time. When I entered the cacao industry, it was the same program the government was pushing,” she said.
What began with growing seedlings blossomed into a full enterprise.
Today, Maldora owns the 3.7-hectare Villa Cortes Criollo Farm in Sagbayan, Bohol, planting the Criollo cacao variety.
Her products include tablea, a traditional Filipino chocolate disc, which she sells through her business, Indai Le Tablea.
Maldora has transformed her success into opportunities for others. As she grows her cacao farm and chocolate business, she helps fellow farmers.
“I strive to help my co-farmers. I have the courage to implement it for those who cannot afford it because I felt the same way,” she said.
She expanded her business by providing seedlings and supervision to landowners in Bohol who tended the plants, then bought their harvest at fair prices, sharing profits equally.
This arrangement allowed her excess seedlings to be planted, while landowners gained income without upfront investment.
Her cacao production has expanded throughout Bohol and now reaches Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
“I continue to strive. I joined the Association of Bohol Cacao Producers to maintain market connections locally and internationally,” she said.
Maldora earns at least ₱15,000 a month, excluding income from livestock, plants and fees from clients who seek her expertise in tending their cacao farms.
She was awarded Most Outstanding Balik Pinas Balik Hanapbuhay Program beneficiary during the 2019 Marilag Award, an OWWA program recognizing outstanding Filipino migrant workers.
Maldora’s story is a testament to how returning OFWs can transform their lives through agricultural entrepreneurship. Her experience proves that with determination, government support and an entrepreneurial mindset, returning home can lead to finding one’s true calling.(MSH/PIA Cebu)
