Buddy’s — Southern Tagalog Fastfood Chain

 

And here it is..fast-rising Southern Tagalog Fastfood!! With franchise outlets in Pearl Drive,

Ortigas Center, Pasig; Quezon Avenue, Lucena City; Shoe Mart, Lucena City; and a lot of

other places like Makati..I hear from family and friends its also good there.  

 

There’s a fat noodle that’s made in

Lucena City, Quezon Province and

it sells at the public market at

PhP 20.00 per kilo… It’s called CHAMI

… chinesey egg noodle …

as in “Chum” … as in “Buddy”..

But that’s me dreaming up the

origins of the name

chosen for my favorite Fastfood chain… 

 

And there’s also another and a lot slimmer

egg noodle they use in “Pancit Lukban”

also known as “Pancit Habhab” (”habhab”

is what locals call the act of eating directly

from a small cut of banana leaf cupped

in your hand and overflowing with the noodle

as you dip your chin into it. Whatelsecanisay…

it’s that good.)

The first and main branch of Buddy’s, say my cousins who live in Lucena, is in 

Lukban, Quezon. The next branch was in Lucena City, the capital and classified as

highly urbanized city with commercial banks in every block and one main road called

…whatelse?…Quezon Avenue .. after Manuel L. Quezon..the President of the

Philippine Commonwealth under U.S. occupation.

Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (August 19, 1878 in Baler, Tayabas, Philippines – August 1, 1944 in Saranac Lake, New York, United States) was the first Filipino president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines under U.S. occupation rule in the early period of the 20th century. He is also considered by most Filipinos to have been the second President, after Emilio Aguinaldo. He has the distinction of being the first Senate President elected to the presidency, the first president elected through a national election, and was also the first incumbent to secure re-election (for a partial second term, later extended, due to amendments to the 1935 Constitution). He is known as the “Father of the National Language“.

Quezon, was born in Baler, Tayabas (now found at Aurora). His parents were Lucio Quezon and Maria Dolores Molina. While serving as aide-de-camp to Emilio Aguinaldo (he had been a Lieutenant, then a Major, in the Bataan sector during the retreat and surrender in 1901), he fought with Filipino nationalists in the Philippine-American War.

 

He received his primary education from his mother and school teacher in their home town and tutors (his father from Paco, Manila, was a Sergeant in the Spanish Army), and later boarded at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he completed secondary school. After the war, he completed Law at the University of Santo Tomas and passed the bar examinations in 1903, placing fourth. He worked for a time as a clerk and surveyor, entering government service as an appointed fiscal for Mindoro and later Tayabas. He became a councilor and was elected governor of Tayabas in 1906 as an independent. In 1907, he was elected to the first Philippine Assembly, where he served as majority floor leader and chairman of the committee on appropriations. From 1909–1916, he served as one of the Philippines’ two resident commissioners to the U.S. House of Representatives, lobbying for the passage of the Philippine Autonomy Act or Jones Law. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_L._Quezon)

Quezon Province recently voted down the separation of the province into Sur and Norte in a plebiscite with a pretty decent enough turn out of voters.  If you ask them “why?” they’ll say “what for?”.  Usually in a very loud voice and with a hearty laugh ( as in sabay tawa).

The bulk of coconut produce from the Philippines comes from Quezon Province. Do you know how much virgin coconut oil made with coconut from the Philippines sells for these days? Google it why dontcha..

On September 7, 2007, the Charter of Quezon del Sur, known as Republic Act No. 9495, lapsed into law without the signature of thePresident Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. If approved by the voters of Quezon, it will split the province into two. Quezon del Sur will comprise the towns of Agdangan, Buenavista, Catanauan, General Luna, Macalelon, Mulanay, Padre Burgos, Pitogo, San Andres, San Francisco, San Narciso, Unisan, Alabat, Atimonan, Calauag, Guinayangan, Gumaca, Lopez, Perez, Plaridel, Quezon and Tagkawayan.

Quezon del Norte (original province) will comprise Burdeos, General Nakar, Infanta, Jamalig, Lucban, Mauban, Pagbilao, Panukulan, Patnanungan, Polillo, Real, Sampaloc, Tayabas, Candelaria, Dolores, San Antonio, Sariaya, Tiaong and Lucena City. The capital of Quezon del Sur shall be Gumaca while Quezon del Norte shall be Lucena City. If the plebiscite of November 2008 will favor splitting Quezon into two provinces, Quezon del Norte and Quezon del Sur will still be part of the CALABARZON (Southern Tagalog, Region-4A) under their original acronym “ZON” (Quezon).

The Commission on Elections (Philippines) will hold the plebiscite on December 13, 2008, the 60th day after Republic Act No. 9495 will take effect. Gov. Rafael Nantes, one of the original authors of the law, and Vice Gov. Carlos Portes, opposed the division of the province. Board member Sonny Pulgar and businessman Hobart Dator Jr. launched the “Save Quezon Province Movement.” The Comelec allotted P 50 million for the plebiscite.^[2] Gov. Rafael Nantes, however, has later softened his stand against the proposed creation of Quezon del Sur. Accordingly, upon request of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, a P38 million “Special Allotment Release Order” was issued by the Department of Budget and Management to the Commission on Elections (Philippines) to fund the holding of the plebiscite.

On November 17, 2008, Save Quezon Province Movement (SQPM) asked the Supreme Court of the Philippines to declare Republic Act 9495 as unconstitutional, and to restrain the implementation of a November 12 Commission on Elections (Philippines) Resolutions Nos. 8533, 8534, 8535, 8537, 8538 and 8539 setting the plebiscite.

Ultimately, the split did not push through, as the proposal was not approved.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quezon)

I am so proud of this chain..look at the menu that it needs to maintain quality control over for purposes of franchising:  Sinigang sa Miso (fishhead in soursoup with mustard leaf and traditional japanese seasoning made out of fermented rice or soybean with salt and a fungus called kojikin); Hardinyera (meatloaf); Budin (cassava cake); Lumpiang ubod (fresh springrolls stuffed with an uprooted coconut tree’s root which has a soft white core); maisconyelo; halo-halo; Pancit lukban; Chami; tagalog breakfast fare; pizza; pork and chicken BBQ; buddy burger; sizzling plates of sisig which I used to get till my doctor advised against; sizzling spicy squid which I still refuse to give up; etc.etc.etc. 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had pancit lukban (PhP400.00) delivered and it came piping hot and a molehill full over a medium-sized bilao (bamboo tray) lined with banana leaf with a separate pack of broth (2 cups) just in the remote possibility that you don’t finish it in one go and need to re-heat.  

I haven’t tried the entire menu yet, for obvious reasons, but the sinigang sa miso is excellent and I had that in Ortigas Center, the BBQ the kids love and we had that in SM, Lucena, the hardinyera meat loaf served cold is particularly good; we get that all the time, the budin (cassava cake) served hot es muy fino and just fantastic at PhP 40.00 per piece and this we order by the dozen and bring home as pasalubong for our friends.  

Ewan ko na sa Jollibee, Red Ribbon at Greenwich …pero eto ang pambato ng Quezon. MABUHAY!!!

TURO-TURO?? (please order at the counter)