BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The son of Filipino songwriter-singer, Gary Valenciano, has chosen Bacolod as the first city outside the Luzon area where their food business will be expanded despite the pandemic.
Gab Valenciano and his partner, Victor Pring, opened TacoBros, the first takoyaki company in the country, along B.S. Aquino-San Agustin Drive, Bacolod City Saturday, with their local partners Chuckie Sibug and lawyer Angela Antonio.
Sibug and his brother, Derick, with twins Martin and Mari Regalado, also inaugurated the HQB building where TacoBros is located, also on Saturday, with Fr. Norman Egay as the officiating priest.
Pring said their local partners also support the mission and vision of their company that is to provide jobs and business opportunities in different places affected by the pandemic.
Valenciano said their Bacolod branch is their 21st and the very first outside Luzon since they opened their first branch in Manila in July last year.
After Bacolod, they plan to expand to Baguio, Angeles, Pangasinan, Davao and Cebu in the coming months. By 2022, they plan to open their first international branch in Dubai, and will hire overseas Filipino workers who have lost their jobs due to COVID, he said.
“Bacolod holds a very special place in my family’s life because whenever we come here, whether for work or play, we would always be welcomed by family and friends, even by strangers,” Valenciano said, adding that Ilonggos are very sweet and kind.
They are 100 percent sure that their business will do well in Bacolod City since they have placed their trust in God and are giving Him back the glory, he said.
Pring said that with their mission and vision to provide jobs to those who have lost theirs, they are very optimistic that they will expand in Bacolod and continue to provide premium, world-class products at affordable rates. They are offering takoyaki and a variety of milk tea products.
Valenciano said that since they opened last year, they have employed hundreds of Filipinos in all their branches.
Pring said TacoBros started at the height of the pandemic last year after they started Vital Pilipinas, a non-government organization that aims to provide food to one family at a time. To date, they have fed over three million people or about 700 families.
“As young entrepreneurs and leaders, we believe that change should start with us by creating opportunities for the less privileged,” he added.*