More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/02/28/abi-marquez-on-family-food-and-the-responsibility-of-representing-filipino-flavors-globally |
On social media, she reigns as the Lumpia Queen. At just 25, Abi Marquez has transformed her love for Filipino food into a global platform, earning accolades from the Webby Awards, a coveted spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, and, most recently, Creator of the Year at the Adcolor Awards. She is also a 2025 Gold Stevie winner at the International Business Awards, where she was recognized as Most Innovative Content Creator of the Year.
But beyond the perfectly edited reels and viral recipes, who is Abi? What sparked her journey from filming home-cooked meals to representing Filipino cuisine on the global stage?
In celebration of International Women’s Month, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle sat down with the trailblazing creator for an intimate conversation about her beginnings during the pandemic, the challenges of building a brand from scratch, and the purpose that fuels her work today.
Inside a loving home, where it all began
“I started doing content in January 2022,” she recalls. “We ate rice three times a day at home. One night, I made pasta for dinner and thought, ‘this is special.’” Armed with her phone and curiosity, she uploaded the video. It went viral.
Instead of basking in the numbers, Abi studied them. “As the nerd that I am, I made a formula for it,” she says with a laugh. She repeated what resonated, refining her storytelling while staying rooted in Filipino flavors.
Food, after all, was always central to her life. The second of four children, Abi grew up in a household where meals were sacred. Her father, an engineer turned entrepreneur, encouraged patience and experimentation, even critiquing dishes with gentle suggestions. Her mother, a nurse who chose to raise the family full-time, cooked three meals a day. No one started eating until everyone was at the table. Even today, that rule stands.
The discipline followed her to school. A graduate of Santa Rosa Science and Technology High School, she took up the Accountancy, Business, and Management senior high school track before earning a degree in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (HRIM) at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. Numbers excite her as much as narratives do. She understands bookkeeping, business models, and audience analytics with equal enthusiasm.
Yet she was never confined to the classroom. Abi joined filmmaking contests, dance competitions, the student government, and even founded the first Honor Society chapter for HRIM students in her college.
From thesis to lifetime career
When content creation began gaining traction during her final semester, she made a bold move. Faced with delays in a traditional internship, she convinced her dean to allow her to turn content creation into her immersion project. She wrote case studies and approached them with academic rigor. From the beginning, she treated it not as a hobby but as a career.
The early days were not glamorous. Without corporate experience, she navigated brand emails by instinct. “I basically pretended to know what I was doing,” she admits. Burnout soon followed. As a one-woman team, she shot, edited, wrote, negotiated, and posted her work. There were Saturdays spent editing instead of sitting at the family table. Those were the moments she cried.
“With the demand that I had with sponsorships and just the workload, it was a very difficult moment for me to catch up with everything, especially the fact that I would miss family occasions,” she shares. “I would miss weekends with my family because of work, which was really a big deal to me.”
Today, she leads a growing team and works with a management team that handles the business side. The challenge now is different. “It’s harder to explain your vision than to just do it yourself,” she says. Still, the improved quality of life affirms her belief that longevity in this industry requires collaboration.
Putting Filipino dishes on the world map
With visibility comes pressure. As one of the few Filipinos representing local cuisine on global platforms, Abi feels a responsibility to be inclusive and informed. “The biggest challenge I face is becoming a responsible, inclusive representative of Filipino cuisine on a global scale.”
Learning, for her, is an active pursuit. She reads, watches, travels, and most importantly, listens. Conversations with fellow Filipinos, whether abroad or in newsrooms, deepen her understanding of the stories behind the food. Each exchange shapes how she presents Filipino flavors to the world.
What’s next for the Lumpia Queen?
A cookbook is in the works, a tangible extension of her digital universe. She hopes to travel more, meet Filipinos overseas, and understand how food connects them to home. This year, she is also going offline, teaching culinary classes at UP Diliman, speaking to students at Ateneo, and organizing kitchen workshops for children in partnership with World Vision.
And yes, she confirms, a restaurant is part of the dream. While many creators expand into products, Abi envisions a space where people can taste her creations firsthand. “It’s more fulfilling for me to share the food that I cook and watch it change someone’s mood,” she says.
For women still searching for their place, her advice is simple. Stick to your story. In a world obsessed with virality and comparison, authenticity remains her secret ingredient. “Your set of experiences is yours alone,” she says. “Block out the noise. Believe you can do anything as long as you put your time and effort into it.”
From a humble pasta video to global recognition, Abi proves that when passion meets purpose, even the simplest dish can open doors to the world.
It's another story of a Filipina succeeding during the pandemic by turning food into money.
In 2022 Legazpi CIty gave 64.5 million pesos in assistance to various groups. The COA has now disallowed that assistance.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/02/28/coa-affirms-disallowance-on-p645-m-assistance-given-to-legazpi-city-employees-tricycle-drivers-seniors-in-2022 |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has affirmed its disallowance on the P38 million cash incentives given to the officials and employees of Legazpi City and the P26.58 million financial assistance (FA) given to tricycle drivers and senior citizens during the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022.
Spouses Carmen Geraldine B. Rosal and Noel E. Rosal, the former mayors of Legazpi City, appealed the COA decisions on the disallowed payments.
They argued that the passage of the ordinances which allowed the welfare and financial assistance cannot connote bad moral judgment or negligence since it was made during the Covid-19 pandemic and the aftermath of several natural calamities.
They also argued good faith behind their actions, and, thus, they should not be held personally liable for money that was already distributed.
But the COA found their arguments without merit.
The COA stressed that Provincial Resolution No. 0384-2023 dated Feb. 7, 2023, issued by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, declared as invalid and inoperative Ordinance No. 16-0013-2022 and Appropriations Ordinance No. 16-0023-2022 of the city, which granted the EWA and additional incentives.
As a result, the COA said that the grant of the FA to tricycle drivers and senior citizens was in violation of Section 261(v) of the Omnibus Election Code on the prohibition against the release, disbursement, and expenditure of public funds during the 45 days preceding a regular election.
It also said that good faith may not be appreciated in favor of the Rosal spouses, as the grant of EWA was immediately disbursed without the required review by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. It added that the timing of the grant was also questionable.
"While the grant was incidentally made during the pandemic, it is worth emphasizing that it was made only on Dec. 22, 2022, which was already at the tail-end. Thus, there was hardly any urgency anymore that would justify non-compliance with the above discussed provisions of law," the COA pointed out.
The nine-page decision was signed by Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba and Commissioner Douglas M.N. Mallillin.
The COA says this was actually a sneaky way to get around election laws by doling out cash. It was also done when the pandemic was basically over in December 2022! No word on whether this money will be returned.
SMX Convention Center continues to recover and expand post-pandemic.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/03/03/smx-breaks-event-record-expands-capacity-nationwide |
SMX Convention Center sets new records in 2025 as demand for business and industry events accelerates nationwide.
SMX Convention Center, the meetings and exhibitions arm of SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime), reported that it hosted a record number of events and visitors in 2025—giving it greater confidence to continue expanding to serve untapped demand.
In a media briefing, SM Hotels and Convention Corp. (SMHCC) Senior Vice President Walid Wafik said, “we are adding capacity ahead of demand as part of our long-term plan because there are some markets that we didn’t tap on yet because of the limited capacity that we have.”
He noted that, “with sufficient capacity we think MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions] can be a significant driver of tourism business activities and regional growth for the Philippines.”
“We are scaling capacity in step with demand, while focusing on developments that complement our current portfolio. This allows us to extend growth beyond the capital and strengthen our presence in key provincial markets,” said SMHCC Executive Vice President Peggy Angeles.
In Cebu province, SMX Convention Center Seaside Cebu will soon rise. It is poised to become the largest convention center in the Philippines and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
In Pasay City, SMXCITE, or SMX Center for International Trade and Exhibitions, is under construction within SM Mall of Asia (MOA) complex. The 18,000-square-meter (sqm) facility is set to open in early 2027 and will be the country’s largest international exhibition venue.
Wafik said that while these facilities have yet to be completed, they have already started receiving bookings for both properties.
“This gives us confidence that the added capacity will attract additional shows and events plus this also gives us a good edge with international events that we have not been tapping or Manila wasn’t being considered because of the limited sizes of the venues. So this is opening great new doors for us,” he added.
SMX said its strong performance last year reinforces its position as a top destination for large-scale events in the country. It currently has eight convention centers and trade halls, three of which are in Metro Manila, including Megatrade Hall at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City, while the others are in Davao, Bacolod, Clark, Olongapo, and Cebu’s Sky Hall.
Across these properties, SMX booked 1,632 events, up 10 percent from 1,480 in 2024. Booked events during the year were almost evenly divided between Metro Manila and regional venues, reflecting the rising popularity of provincial destinations.
Visitor traffic climbed 38 percent to 8.42 million from 6.1 million, as the expanded lineup of booked events and their strong audience pull translated into higher foot traffic.
“Since the pandemic reopening, we have seen sustained demand not only in Metro Manila but also in key regional destinations. The accessible locations of our venues also encouraged walk-in visitors, particularly for exhibitions and consumer shows open to the public,” said Angeles.
Major events staged at SMX venues in 2025 included flagship trade exhibitions and consumer shows such as Philconstruct, World Food Expo (WOFEX), SiGMA Asia, Manila International Auto Show (MIAS), and TravelTour Expo (TTE), along with bridal fairs and large-scale cosplay conventions.
MICE will certainly be the driving factor in their growth as business meeting and conferences converge on these convention centers.
Grocery stores are struggling due to weak economic growth.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/03/02/grocery-stores-struggle-as-filipino-consumers-cut-back-on-spending |
Consumer spending in supermarkets at the start of the year remains clouded by uncertainty, as the ongoing political noise and weaker economic growth are prompting Filipinos to spend their money elsewhere, according to the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarket Association Inc. (Pagasa).Pagasa President Steven Cua said spending in the first quarter will unlikely to rebound from the worse-than-expected holiday period during the latter part of last year, which is typically the highest sales period of any given year.Cua said members of the supermarket group are still “uncertain” whether sales will gain upward momentum as early as next month.“The political sentiment is really hurting us. People say that's separate, but bloggers, TikTok, everything on social media, is killing us,” he said in a chance interview last week.The country’s economic growth expanded by just three percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, the slowest since the pandemic, in the aftermath of the flood control scandal that stalled government spending.According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the consumer confidence index worsened to -22.2 percent in the quarter, down from -9.8 percent in the previous three months.While the corruption scandal continues to affect sentiment, Cua pointed out that consumer confidence is also being weighed down by an even more divisive political climate en route to the 2028 presidential elections.To recall, Vice President Sara Duterte has announced that she intends to run for the country’s top post in the elections, a move that is seen to dictate the status of her impeachment case.At the same time, the International Criminal Court (ICC) recently concluded the confirmation of charges against her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, over alleged crimes against humanity, which is expected to cast a shadow over the country’s political landscape.To encourage consumer spending, Cua said the country is badly in need of some much-needed “good news.”“When Manny Pacquiao has a fight, there's no crime, right? What goes up? The sales of alcohol. People want to drink and watch. So those are feel-good things,” he explained.While supermarkets are reeling from the impact of weaker spending, Cua said this is the opposite for hard discounters who are on an upswing as consumers are now more keen to buy cheaper goods.Hard discounters Dali and O! Save offers a no-frills shopping experience, selling private-label goods at prices lower than branded counterparts.“They keep opening, they have the capital. We don't have the capital to burn, that's why we are wait-and-see,” said Cua.He noted that hard discounters could continue growing at a faster rate this year as household budgets tighten, especially amid increases in oil prices.If oil and transportation costs continue to take up a larger share of consumers’ wallets, he said shoppers will likely turn to alternative stores such as hard discounters rather than traditional supermarkets.
Amazing that the flood control scandal is now affecting grocery stores! That's the power of corruption. It has wiped out much post-pandemic growth.
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