Marawi: Reviving Nanay Felipa’s Snack Business

Nanay Felipa is married to Tatay Felipe. They are one of the few Christian couples living in Marawi City since 1988. Nanay Felipa was from Suminot, Zamboanga Del Sur and Tatay Felipe was from Libertad, Misamis Oriental, and they are blessed with 6 children. They were into a small snack vending business at the Mindanao State University Comcent, where they rent a space for their business. They cooked suman, biko, camote que and other local delicacies. They joined CARD Inc. in March 4, 2016 and availed a Php 7,000-livelihood loan, just before the siege. She used it as additional capital for her business.

During the siege, they were forced to leave Marawi and ended up evacuating to Tambo, Iligan City, where they temporarily stayed with her husband’s relatives. According to Nanay Felipa, this was the hardest part of her life, where she experienced hardships and difficulties, both financially and emotionally. They did not have income, and could not provide for their family’s needs. They were heavily reliant on relief goods given by government and private agencies. They stayed in Tambo for almost 6 months. Upon their return, Nanay Felipa decided she needed to start all over again. She was able to avail the CARD Inc. loan amounting to Php 10,000.00 to restart her business. Nanay Felipe was then able to slowly renovate their house ceiling and support her youngest daughter in School.