Teresita
Antonio smiles the smile of the contented.
By REDEMPTO D ANDA
PUERTO
PRINCESA CITY: Teresita Antonio never dreamed of basking in her near celebrity
status just by the modest success of her sari-sari, or convenience, store
located near this city’s main strip.
Driven
to Palawan in 2008 by the poverty in Catanduanes, Teresita, her husband Claro
and only son John Clarence, a special child, decided to migrate to Puerto
Princesa City, hoping for better economic opportunities without actually
knowing how they would fare in a burgeoning city with just the carpentry skills
of the husband.
Pressed
by the hardship of urban living, Teresita decided she needed to make additional
income for her family by putting up a sari-sari store, pawning her lone family
heirloom for P5,000 that served as her capital.
The
effort Teresita, now 41, had put into her business and its consequent rapid
growth were what made her a uniquely different story.
It
could be the serendipity of her store’s location, or perhaps the way she had
branded her tiny establishment with the colors and icons of her main product,
or the self-discipline she had imposed on her business, that made it a success
story interesting enough to attract the attention of a major corporate sponsor
such as Coke Philippines.
Her
sari-sari store has become 10 times bigger in just four years with Coca Cola’s
support, and Teresita was one of the 1,000 fresh graduates of the company’s
pilot training program rolled out in Palawan this year, specifically focusing
on women for economic empowerment.
Women’s
month
“With
the P5,000 initial capital I had, the only thing I could buy for retail at that
time were Coke products. I just stacked them nicely on a stand, made up by
myself and wore a nice red dress. In just a few days, my inventory was already
worth P7,000,” Teresita tells the Inquirer.
An
eagle-eyed Coca Cola account developer personally witnessed how Teresita had
nurtured her upstart scrappy little store. He wisely engaged her to become a
beneficiary of the company’s support program for entrepreneurs, assisting her
initially with support products and eventually inviting her to join the
company’s entrepreneurship training program timed to celebrate the
International Women’s Month.
“At
first, when the Coke representative saw that I bought an ordinary styro box to
store my products, they gave me a nice small cooler which I proudly displayed
and announced to my neighbors. Now I have a much bigger, twin-door cooler I got
free from the company.”
Inspiration
Coke
chief executive officer Bill Schultz says the company has been replicating the
training program nationwide and globally, assisting women entrepreneurs with
training and one-on-one advice and technical assistance.
“We
are targeting 10,000 graduates from the entrepreneurship training this year,
half a million throughout the Philippines by 2020 and five million throughout
the world,” Shultz tells the Inquirer.
Shultz
was in Puerto Princesa on March 8 and represented Coke in the event celebrating
International Women’s Day held at the Provincial Capitol multipurpose hall.
Schultz
adds the company is also committed to complete 100 school buildings this year
and launch a feeding program in Palawan.
Company
officials admit that Teresita’s success story has inspired their program and
dubbed her “John Clarence Store,” named by Teresita after her special child, as
“among the perfect stores based on the parameters set by Coca Cola Bottlers
Philippines Inc.”
At
present, Teresita says, she easily makes a gross income of P4,000 on a daily
basis, mainly from her Coca Cola sales and other basic supplies. She has
already recovered her pawned heirloom and saved enough to send her now
17-year-old son to a special school.
Teresita’s
dreams have since evolved to include a house of her own for her family and a
much bigger store to keep her busy. - Inquirer
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