Ever since I can remember, we Cebuanos loved to eat bananaque and kamoteque. Bananaque are bananas (usually the cardava) fried in deep oil coated in brown sugar (locally known as central) while Kamoteque is sweet potato, sliced into small rounded portions also fried in oil and coated in brown sugar. These delicious snacks are then sold on wooden skewers or barbeque sticks. It's one of the street foods we have grown to love and enjoy. Vendors selling bananaque and kamoteque are actually everywhere. In the downtown and uptown areas, near schools and hospitals, in provinces and other towns as well. Even in Metro Manila and other places in the Philippines, one can always find a bananaque and kamoteque vendor. One stick of bananaque or kamoteque would cost about three to five pesos each. The number one customers of the bananaque and kamoteque vendors here in Cebu are the students who would always flock at the vendors to get their share of either the sweet bananaque or kamoteque during their recess or dismissal time.

   Mr. Pabling Sienes started selling bananaque and kamoteque in 1993 outside the gate of the University of San Carlos - North Campus in Gen. Maxilom Avenue, Cebu City. Hand in hand, Pabling and his wife struggled to support their family by selling bananaque and kamoteque. As the University grew, so did his business and the market as well. Together with his wife and three children (eldest child is now in high school, second is in grade 2, and the youngest is in the nursery level), they now have reaped the fruits of the business. The kamoteque has evolved into something better. Pabling no longer puts the kamoteque on sticks but now slices them like French fries and places them in small paper bags. My friends and I call it 'French fries ala kamote' and it's cool because it is much easier to eat and hold, especially with the kids compared to the ones on sticks. With an earning of around 200 to 300 pesos a day, Pabling starts his day at 8:00 am and closes at 6:00 pm during school days.

   Another street food attraction found in Cebu is the Pungko-pungko. These stalls can be found near the Redemptorist Church, in downtown Colon, in Lahug and in areas near schools all over Metro Cebu. The word "pungko" actually means to sit down. In order to eat pungko-pungko, customers are seated on small wooden benches in front of a small table and these benches usually accommodate around one to three people. Sometimes if there's no bench available one has to sit on a 'bangkito' , a small wooden chair that can just sit one person. Pungko-pungko food includes the crunchy Chicharon Bulaklak or ginabot (pig's intestine), the fried lumpiang Shanghai, bola-bola (meatballs), Longanisa (a traditional Filipino sweet sausage) and sometimes fried or boiled eggs. These food are usually served with native vinegar, chopped onions and crushed red hot chili pepper! And of course, who can forget the ever present hanging rice which makes the meal even more filling. Students as well as professionals love to eat at the pungko-pungko stalls because of its affordability and delicious taste. Ginabot or chicharon bulaklak cost only P6.00 (six pesos) each along with the other food.

   Mr. Jimmy Lariba has been a pungko-pungko vendor for quite some time now. He started out in 1987 with a capital of around 300 to 500 pesos. Twenty years later, his usual puhunan (capital) has reached 1,000 pesos. He started out his pungko-pungko business when he was young and single near the Redemptorist Church (Gen.Maxilom or Mango Avenue). He is now married with two children. One child is a boy who is now in grade four and the other is a three year old girl. He actually cooks around 18 kilos of ginabot or chicharon bulaklak a day. He would open up his stall in the morning and close in the afternoon at 5:00 or 6:00 pm. His pungko-pungko business earns for him 200 to 300 pesos a day (capital not included) and has been able to support his family and send his eldest child to school. The pungko-pungko is a smalltime business that has fed hundreds if not thousands of people through the years. Some people would say that the food sold in the pungko-pungko stalls are dirty but Mr. Jimmy Lariba begs to disagree on this for he himself cooks the food that he sells and is the same food his children and relatives love to eat. He adds that he may be poor but he would never compromise the health of his children as well as his customers. Mr.Lariba has now moved his stall near Foodarama (along Mango avenue), just beside other pungko-pungko vendors.

   I have eaten in many pungko-pungko stalls and nothing bad has ever happened to me. Whenever we hear Mass at Redemptorist Church we would always make it a point to drop by at Jimmy's pungko-pungko and enjoy the crispy ginabot. Me and my husband loved it!

   Everyday we see these street food vendors and buy from them but do we bother to get to know them and their struggles? Some of us even look down on them not realizing that they are so much a part of the community we live in. In the eyes of God we are all equal, rich or poor. Being a sidewalk or street food vendor is actually one of the most difficult jobs a man can ever have. Let us appreciate them for what they are and for providing us with a delicious but affordable alternative whenever we have the urge to eat but are out of budget for those classy fast food meals offered by giant food chains in malls.