SEA Games big finishers start small business
CEBU CITY: As the future remains uncertain for national athletes due to the pandemic that brought the sporting world to a standstill, Cebu’s top athletes still found a way to earn extra income in line with quarantine restrictions.
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games medalist Mary Joy Tabal has set up the Queen Mary’s Kitchen, an online food business that started out as a pastime to ease her anxiety but has grown into a full-blown business.
“Baking is one of my ways to fight anxiety. My dream is to start my own business. I did not expect that it would begin during the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) period,” Tabal told TheManilaTimes.
The 2019 SEA Games women’s marathon silver medalist bakes muffins and has them delivered through ride-hailing apps.
SEA Games double gold medalist Margielyn Arda Didal also has a food start-up in Cebu City. Didal, one of Asia’s top female skateboarders, named her fooddelivery business as Hungry Sk8rs. It offers Filipino dishes such as humba (braised pork), spicy shrimps and ngohiong (shrimp, ground meat and vegetable spring rolls), among other delicious dishes.
Philippine Sports Commission ( PSC) Commissioner Ramon Fernandez lauded the initiative of the athletes.
“I’m happy that they’re using their popularity to their advantage by starting up a business. They will not be athletes forever. It’s good that they have thought about this while they’re still young,” he said.
Fernandez will temporarily sit as PSC officer-in-charge as Chairman William Ramirez took a leave of absence to attend to his ailing wife, Mercy, who underwent a gallbladder bile duct operation.