Dr. Dulce M. Flores: A PASSION TO MAKE A MARK
Cebu is no doubt rich in culture and tradition. It has certain aspects of life uniquely its own. One such unique local feature is its distinct culinary and delicacy tradition.
The “torta” of Argao town, for example, is most famous among similar cakes around. While the original recipe may have had been brought in by the Spaniards of old, the local people have since made it their very own – introducing twists to accommodate locally abundant and available ingredients. The delectable homemade pastry is said to derive its unique taste and texture from a very special native ingredient – saksak, a kind of tapioca extracted from the sago palm.
Sago commonly grows in the wild, although it can also be farmed. Starch is extracted from the very trunk of the plant. The extraction process is long and complicated procedure, and thus laborious.
Sago starch is of premium quality and, thus, there is high demand for it. In which case, it also holds good livelihood prospects for the local community. It is for this reason that a native of Argao devoted her time and professional knowledge to develop a machine that would make the extraction of sago starch easier and quicker for her fellow Argaoanons.
Dr. Dulce M. Flores, a retired professor, food scientist and chemist, wanted to liven up the production of saksak in her town, hopefully to start a local industry.
Ma’am Duy, as she was popularly called, was the youngest of three siblings in a musically inclined family; she played the piano. She finished BS Education and BS Chemistry at the University of San Carlos, her Master of Science in Food Science at UP Los Baños, and her Ph.D. in Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Tokyo.
She had worked as professor in a community college in Argao, from 1967 to 1977, and then, from 1977-1996, in UP Los Baños as university researcher, eventually becoming Deputy Director. The rest of her career she spent in UP Mindanao, where she continued her research on sago starch, entitled “Utilization of Sago Starch into High-value Products through Biotechnology,” with funding from the Department of Science and Technology. She worked on it until her retirement in 2013.
After retirement, she still continued on her research back in her home town in Argao. She also started a coffee-shop business, called Zabadani Café, located in Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City. Her nephew Niño Flores said Ma’am Duy became more hardworking as she grew older, “Mas na-busy siya pag-retire niya.” She wasn’t the talking type, according to her brother Benjamin Flores, “Dili siya istoryador.”
On April 6, this year, at the age of 66, Ma’am Luy had passed away. But not before completing her project on Argao’s saksak. She was able to invent machines to speed up each part of the sago starch extraction process. She mainly thought up the technology and her partners manufactured the machines.
The Chipper machine separates the raw saksak from the inner part of the sago trunk, the Solar Dryer hastens the drying process of saksak; the Hammer machine crushes the dried saksak, making it ready for running through the ayagan or Siever machine, the last step of the process.
In the end, three things are produced – the good sago starch, the fibers, and the coarse powdered pulp. The starch is a good alternative to all-purpose flour, for cakes and pastries. The fibers and the trunk can be used for construction or formed into small blocks for firewood. The coarse powdered pulp can be made into animal feed, although experimentation on it is still ongoing.
The whole thing reflects the old Filipino tradition of maximizing the use of materials, allowing nothing to go to waste. The technology is said to be the first of its kind in Asia. In fact, Ma’am Luy had reportedly received offers from both foreign and local investors for the manufacture of her machines.
She would always refuse such offers from investors. Reynaldo Famat, a long-time employee of Ma’am Luy, said, “Gusto siya nga ang Argao ang makauna,” Very typical of the lady – she wanted Argao to be the first to benefit from her work. She wanted her town to make its mark not only in the country, but in the world.
The recent passing of Dr. Dulce M. Flores is a sad event, of course. But, clearly, she did not pass away without leaving something for her townsfolk. Her sago machines are sure to help a lot of people and, hopefully, bring her town to the attention of the world.