Pantawid Pamilya Mother Wins Cooking Show, Featured In TV Commercial

“When I cook, I cook with love and I cook for love,” said Epifania Lambo, 36, of Barangay Opao, Mandaue City, Cebu who won the Eden Cheese cooking competition last December 2015 in Metro Manila that also made her land a commercial contract with Eden Cheese.

Lambo narrated that middle last year Eden Cheese had a barangay cooking challenge in their area.
When they heard about it, her sister encouraged her to join since they have been using Eden Cheese as an ingredient in making cassava roll or pichi-pichi, which is among the best sellers in their small business.

But during the actual contest it was announced that they will be cooking a main dish and not a dessert so Lambo decided to cook chicken drumstick instead.

Of the three presenters during the barangay elimination, Lambo topped the competition that earned her a spot in the national tilt where she eventually won Php 100,000 cash prize.

Aside from the cash prize, Lambo will also receive Php 60,000 as her talent fee for the TV commercial.
“Most of my winning money was put into savings for my children’s future,” she said.
Lambo is a solo parent for 14 years now and is struggling to raise her three children Althreu, Gerard and Prince.
The mother of three juggles her time between cooking and taking care of her children. Her son Gerard, 12, is a Pantawid Pamilya monitored children.

“The financial help I received from Pantawid Pamilya aids me in our daily finances, especially that I’m a solo parent,” Epifania shared.

She added that the Self Employment Assistance Kaunlaran (SEAK) financial assistance worth Php 10,000 she received from Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has also helped improve her small business.

SEAK is now under the Sustainable Livelihood Program of DSWD. SLP is a community-based capacity building program which equips participants to actively contribute to production and labor markets by looking at available resources and accessible markets.

Lambo is optimistic that all her children will have a better life.