Charita Puentespina (Puentespina Orchids and Tropical Edith Dacuycuy

Plants Inc.)

Edith Dacuycuy of Refmad Farms owns the largest dragon fruit farm
in the country in Ilocos Norte. Her farm was a result of her search
for a cure for her daughter’s illness. The Dragon Lady, as she is
called, was able to grow her business through process innovation
and research, and her farm is very notable for its zero-waste
Credited with saving the waling-waling in the Philippines from
farming practices. With the expansion of her business, Edith
extinction, Charita Puentespina’s passion for growing orchids
realized the need to register her agribusiness and encourage other
and love of plants led her to establish her own business. She grew
local farmers to engage in dragon fruit production. Her dragon fruit
up loving plants because her family was into agriculture and their
is distributed here in the country and abroad. Her vision is to make
backyard was full of plants and vegetables. Charita was enticed to
the Philippines a very big producer of dragon fruit.
grow orchids by her friends, who had beautiful orchids in their
homes. She knew that she could grow them herself, and started
importing orchids from Bangkok and Hawaii. She researched orchid Senen Bacani (La Fuerta, Inc.)
breeding and propagation and invested in it. By the 1980s she was
able to successfully propagate waling-waling in her laboratory. It
attracted demand locally and abroad, so she expanded her farm,
which is now known as Malagos Garden Resort. In 2008, she bought
land adjacent to her farm and named it Golden Sunset, where
cacaos are grown and manufactured as chocolates.

Desiree Duran (Duran Farm and Agribusiness Center)

The former Department of Agriculture head during the

presidency of Corazon Aquino and former country manager for Dole
Philippines and Costa Rica, Senen Bacani knows a lot about
agriculture. He is now the CEO of one of the largest exporters of
bananas in the country, La Fuerta Inc. Determined to help his
community in Mindanao, he converted vast lands into a plantation
that now produces five to six million boxes of Cavendish bananas
and exports them to the Middle East and countries in Asia. They use
their tagline as an inspiration: “We excel because we care.”
True enough, it is not only their world-class products that made
them big, but also their efforts to care and value their hardworking
With only limited knowledge of farming, Desiree Duran was farmers.
challenged to start her agri-business after attending a seminar. She
turned one hectare of land into a plantation of tomatoes that
piqued the interest of her own community, which became involved
in the production. Duran Farm and Agribusiness Center now trains
farmers and teaches them about modern technology in farming.
Through these efforts, they have produced high-quality fruits and
vegetables and also developed seeds that are now available on the
market.
 Arsenio Barcelona
From his travels to Taiwan, Arsenio Barcelona was inspired by the
technology and techniques used in their farming. He then brought
this information back to Manila. In 1997, Known-You Seeds Co. Ltd.,
the largest and most prestigious seed breeder, producer and
distributor in Taiwan, got them to be the exclusive importer and
distributor of their products, which then led to the Harbest
Agribusiness Corporation. After their success, they now offer
monthly training to encourage and inspire Filipinos to try backyard
farming.
Jose Mercado (Merlo Agricultural Corporation)
Jose Mercado, chairman of Merlo Agricultural Corp., grew up on a
coffee farm in Lipa, Batangas, owned by his father, and spent his
childhood years helping him run the farm. He was inspired to
continue, for this was something he knew by heart, so he put up his
own coffee business and realized his dream to have a better life.
Jose did not go to college but took courses in accounting and
taxation for he knew by then what he wanted to do. Merlo is a
combination of his and his wife’s last name: Mercado and Lopez.
He is proud to say that his family is one of the pioneers in the
Batangas coffee industry. They bank on the quality of their coffee
beans and roasting technique. In 1990, Jose developed his own
blend, which became a hit because of its flavor, and called it Cafe de
Lipa — named after his hometown. He sells three brands of coffee:
Batangas Brew, Cafe de Lipa, and Kapeng Barako, which have all
proven popular in the market until today.
Joseph Calata (Calata Corporation)
The youngest business tycoon in the country started by studying the
family business, and through his passion to develop their business,
Calata Corporation is now the country’s largest distributor of
agrochemicals, feeds, fertilizers and seeds. Joseph believes that the
agricultural sector should be empowered for it will bear great
products. He also treats the farmers as their best asset for they
would not be the biggest agricultural conglomerate without them.
Having helped introduce agriculture-related technology, now Calata
Corporation is signing deals with different foreign firms.
Jeffrey Lim (JSJ Goat Farms)
Jeffrey Lim was involved in business at an early age since his family
ran a noodle factory. A request from a friend to have a goat as a gift
for his birthday inspired his business. He thought that, since many
farmers raise goats, he could easily source them. He also realized
that there was more he could do in the goat business, which was
breeding. He and his wife started raising six goats in 2001; in 2004,
he decided to convert his goat-breeding hobby into a full-blown
business. His venture began to soar and, in 2009, he was able to sell
more than 400 goat breeders. JSJ is also expanding into related
businesses like goat milk production and feta cheese. Today, his
business continues to profit and goat raising has been his goldmine
since he started.
 Paris Uy (Live Green International, Inc.)
Paris advocacy for organic products has been well-received in the
country. He is into producing organic vegetables, which today are
very much in demand. Live Green International Inc. now distributes
fresh produce and organic products to 19 outlets in the country,
including well-known malls and establishments. They also opened
the first whole-foods store in the country named Organiko. Live
Green also gives training programs to farmers and has now
produced a total of 160 graduates as of May 2014, 88 of whom are
now certified and official organic contract growers.
Martin & Pilamar Ozaeta (Gemsun Marketing)
Having been in the poultry business since 1994, Martin Ozaeta and
his wife Pilamar’s Gemsun Marketing produces close to 55,000
eggs daily. When they were starting, Martin did not have a
background in the poultry business but with the help of
Pilamar’s parents, who were into it, he learned the process
slowly but surely. Martin and Pilamar started with 3,000 chickens
and this has grown to over 60,000 today, despite many challenges
and setbacks through the years. Hard work, determination, and
fortitude are the two’s keys to success. Their determination to
succeed comes from the fact that there will always be a demand for
eggs in the market. Today, to generate stronger market demand and
trust, Martin and Pilamar continuously search for ways to improve
their production and produce quality.