Stories of Change: Making something out of almost nothing
How Rowena Francisco of Malabang, Lanao del Sur turned P15,000 in livelihood support from MSSD into her own food cart business and a new home.
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Rowena's story
By Bangsamoro Information Office | August 29, 2026 | Category: Story of Change
It poured over her small food cart, soaked the ground beneath her feet, and threatened to drive away the few customers she was hoping would come. Her umbrella was broken, offering little protection from the rain.
Still, she stayed, waiting for someone to stop for a stick of fishball, a piece of tempura, or anything she could sell that day.
For Rowena Francisco of Malabang, Lanao del Sur, going home empty-handed was never an option. At 55, with no stable source of income, she had learned to survive with whatever work was available.
“Not a single employer would hire me. I had no education, I only reached Grade 2,” she recalled.
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There was no certainty in the small business she had started, either. The cart was not even hers. She rented it for P200 a day, a difficult amount to pay when customers were few and sales were uncertain.
“I wasn’t sure about it back then. Sometimes I earned, sometimes I didn’t. It was my first time doing it, too.”
There were days when she earned enough to buy two kilos of rice and a few vegetables. There were also days when there was barely enough for a meal.
But uncertainty was something Rowena had already grown accustomed to. She lives with her sibling and nephew. Before her small food business, their days were marked by scarcity.
During the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the struggle became even harder. There were times when food was so scarce that she remembers giving her nephew nothing but water mixed with sugar to ease his hunger.
Then, in the middle of those difficult days, a small opportunity found its way to Rowena. A couple who had seen her selling beneath the rain noticed her determination.
Months later, she received a call that would change the direction of her life. Rowena had been selected as a beneficiary of the Unlad Pamilyang Bangsamoro Program (UPBP) of the Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), a case management initiative designed to support the poorest households in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“The primary objective is to uplift poor and vulnerable households, guiding them from survival to subsistence and towards self-sufficiency,” MSSD shared.
“It specifically targets households not currently benefiting from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), or those who are graduating from 4Ps because their children are no longer age-eligible,” the ministry said.
When she first heard the news, she could hardly believe it.
“At first, I thought it wasn’t real. I was so happy then.”
In 2021, Rowena received P15,000 in livelihood capital. Also, she underwent capacity-building sessions covering livelihood skills, financial literacy, and basic business management, preparing her not only to start a business but also to sustain it.
For someone who had spent years worrying about her next meal, P15,000 could have easily disappeared into immediate household needs. But Rowena saw something else in it. She saw a chance.
Instead of spending the money on temporary relief, she invested every peso into the business she hoped could sustain them for years to come.
She bought a frying pan, flour, siomai, and ingredients for sauces. She expanded her products to include duck, chicken, and quail eggs. She eventually acquired a “sikad”, or pedicab food cart, allowing her to bring her business closer to more customers.
“I didn’t use the capital for anything else. I really used it only for my business. The income I earned from selling was what I used to cover our family’s needs.”
Slowly, the small business began to change more than her daily income.
It changed what Rowena believed was possible.
From the profits of her enterprise, she began buying construction materials little by little. One day, it was a few pieces of wood. Another day, cement or other materials. She did not have enough money to build a house all at once, but she had something she had never had before — a steady reason to believe she could.
Piece by piece, her earnings became walls. The walls became a roof. And the roof became a home.
For Rowena, the house is more than a structure. It is proof of how far a Bangsamoro who once stood beneath a broken umbrella has come.
Her story reflects a broader transformation taking place across the Bangsamoro region. According to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), BARMM recorded the largest decline in family poverty incidence among the country’s 18 regions, dropping from 26.0 percent in 2023 to 12.8 percent in 2025 — a 13.2-percentage-point reduction.
While statistics tell the story of progress in numbers, Rowena’s journey shows what that progress can look like in real life when determination is matched with sustained support and opportunities.
Today, she continues to run her small business with the same determination that kept her beside that cart on rainy days. But this time, she is no longer simply trying to survive — she is building a dream.
“If I hadn’t been accepted into this program, I honestly don’t know where I would be now.”
Her journey is a reminder that livelihood assistance is not simply about giving people money. Sometimes, it is about giving someone the opportunity to turn what little they have into something that can last.
Rowena knows that opportunity must also be met with determination.
Her advice to others who receive livelihood assistance is simple: “Use it for your business so it won’t go to waste. This is your opportunity to receive capital. You need to use it wisely so your business can grow.”
She still dreams of expanding her business, sending her nephew to school, and improving the home she worked so hard to build.
Years ago, Rowena stood beneath a broken umbrella with only P500 in her hands, uncertain whether her first attempt at business would succeed. Today, that little fishball cart represents something much bigger. It represents a livelihood she can call her own.
It represents a home she once could only dream of. And it represents a future she no longer has to simply hope for. From those little things, she made something that could last. And perhaps that is what her journey is really about: making something out of almost nothing.
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