AT 50, while other people her age would be at the top of their game in their chosen career, Fil-Am Diana Limjoco ventured into the unknown. It was 1998 then, and web development was something new. But there was something about it that interested Diana since her friend, out of frustration, sat her down and forced her to learn web design from him in two hours. Her friend was frustrated that Diana lacked the interest to exhibit her photographs at art galleries. Diana was a professional photographer then.

Since that lesson, Diana was hooked. She first made a website about her family, the Limjocos. Then she made a site for her town, Mt. Shasta in California, pro bono as a form of public service. More websites followed, such as www.batangasnow.com, a website showcasing the beauty of Batangas, her home province. Then in 2002, she went into e-commerce by helping her friend Dave Dewbre sell products online. With Diana’s SEO skills, the site became number 1 in all keyword categories within one week, and generated 1,500 in orders in one day.

Today, Diana and Dave run Digital Web Group, Inc. which builds and maintains websites, and provides e-commerce support and web hosting, among other things. They also run successful retail stores and eBay auction stores. They are also establishing a partnership with a Filipino entrepreneur who sells environment-friendly electric motor bikes. Diana is the president and CFO of the company.
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Photo by JANUS VICTORIA

by Aina Lim*

In Filipino, we call her ‘nanay’.  Millions of women in the Philippines, in the countryside and in the cities keep to their homes where they know exactly what they ought to be: mothers, the light of the family.

Till recently, few would expect these women to earn, much less be the instruments out of their family’s poverty.  But 22 years ago, with a dream to help the poorest in our country, Dr. Aris Alip put his faith in these women and founded CARD: Center for Agriculture and Rural Development.

From years of work in Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Dr. Alip and his colleagues had identified the country’s poorest as those without assets and access to banks and basic services.  They also believed that until these people obtained capital to acquire something of their own, they were powerless to improve their lives and rise out of poverty.

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“Wow, ang saya dito ah! Sana kanina pa tayo nandito.” (Hey, it’s fun here! We should have been here earlier.)

Such was the comment of my nephew yesterday afternoon when we went to Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches, Quezon City. It was already November 2, All Souls’ Day, and although most Filipinos flock to the cemeteries on November 1 (All Saints’ Day) to visit the graves of their dead family members, still a lot of people went that day. Proof was that it was bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to Holy Cross yesterday afternoon, and even inside the memorial park, it took 30 minutes to drive from the gate to the mausoleum area.

There were thousands of people in the memorial park, and while most of them brought baon, a lot of them also checked out the various food stalls nearby. We spotted kiosks of Andok’s, Shakey’s, Greenwich, Mr. Softy ice cream, Seattle’s Best, Zagu, and even TGI Friday’s. There were also siomai stalls, barbeque stalls, and so much more spread all over the park. My nephews and nieces had their own ‘gimik’ checking out the food stalls.

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