Manong Dominic came from a poor family of weavers. His parents, Tata Dalmacio and Nana Elena taught him the skill since he was seven years old. When he grew up as a young man, he continued the legacy that his parents gave him. But as time went by, he saw that income was small so he decided to shift to another business.

“There came a time that I set aside the weaving business,” Manong Dominic recalls.” I shifted to poultry raising but it did not work out right. Next was a piggery and the same happened; I was bankrupt.” The only alternative that I thought of that moment was to go and work abroad. I worked in Saudi Arabia for six years. When I came back, I decided to return to the weaving business again.”

Manong Dominic says that he encountered a lot of problems when he started the business. The first hindrance was where to get enough capital to start the business. He borrowed money from his friends but he failed. “I almost cried when they didn’t lend me money. What I did was to pray to Him, that someone good will sympathize with me. ”Then I heared that the Department of Trade and Industry lends money to those who want to start a business. Thank God! I was able to borrow an amount and with the money I saved from working abroad, we were in the business!

And yes. Mr. Panela is no ordinary businessman. In a mere few years of patience and hardwork, he was able to make their business bloom. At the start, he was only using left-over threads from textile factories in Manila. “The experience sounds funny,” he says, “But I made sure that although I was using left-over threads, I produced good finished products.” “And because my products are of quality, buyers began to like them until such time that they became our regular customers.”

During the first years, Rowilda’s Loom Weaving was situated at the Panela residence in Camanggaan, Vigan City. But because a lot of tourists came to their house everyday to buy their products, Mayor Eva Marie S. Medina encouraged them to transfer to the city proper. They put up their showroom at the Vigan Public Market Annex. Later on, Manong Dominic realized that it would be better for them to stay at the heart of the Heritage Village in Vigan City. It is more convenient for their customers to reach them especially the tourists who visit the city everyday.

The shop sells artistically hand-woven quality products like pillow cases, blankets, handtowels, table napkins, table runners, shawls, bathrobes, wall decors, wallets, Buri crafts, woodcrafts and T-shirts bearing the Vigan City logo. We create our own designs for our products. We don’t want to just imitate others. Customers’ satisfaction has always been central to us.” Manong Dominic also supplies finished products in Manila, Baguio and in some parts of Ilocos Sur. He also supplies raw materials to the weavers of Nagbakalan, Ilocos Norte, Caoayan and Santiago, Ilocos Sur.

For Manong Dominic, the main root of failure is mismanagement. “When I started the weaving business, the first thing I did was a realistic estimation of the business’ actual needs, from the finances, to the workers and to the finished products. I always make it a point not to lose any amount, although this is always common in every business. It is always a must to have dedicated workers and quality materials in the business. Dedicated and skilled workers plus quality threads result to a quality product. Yes, failures come but I never allowed it to slow me down. I counted my mistakes as encouragements and not as failures”.

Right now, he is living life comfortably with his family. But still Manong Dominic wants to expand the business. According to him, life is brief and he must make every second count. He wanted to make the business burn as brightly as possible before handling it down to his heirs.

“Success does not only root on financial stability but on how we treat our fellowmen. It is what we give that really matters and it is ourselves that we must give in service to others. I always make it a habit to radiate goodness for in doing so, goodness radiates back to me in double!”

And yes, Manong Dominic’s vision accompanied with collective diligence, patience, faith in God and hardwork elevated their life from poverty. And these are the things that propelled Mr. Dominic Panela to become a successful businessman. /HARaqueño

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