The poor boy from Tuburan

I first saw his product, drip bags of roasted coffee, in a major hotel in Cebu, gifted to me by a good friend Dottie Viajar. And it kept me thinking — coffee from Cebu? I have never heard of coffee growing in Cebu.

- CHIT U. JUAN

But the Universe finds ways to proceed with the grand plan.

He was supposed to be introduced to me by the late Bert Lina last January, as he had worked for the late customs chief for 10 years. But that meeting never happened after Bert had passed oh so suddenly in the same month. But the Universe has a way of continuing the plan, and so I met Bert’s daughter Donna at a sustainability event who finally introduced us virtually in a group chat. Many texts later, he said we should meet one of these days and I just dismissed the plan to even go to Cebu and check him out.

At the same event I met Kay Lugtu, and she would invite me weeks later to be a coach for an award I have never heard of - The Filipinnovation Awards. I read about it and was totally impressed that such an event would be happening. To discover innovators, scientists, geeks and “out of the box” thinkers.

Guess who was assigned to be coached by me? Yes, Tuburan coffee founder Democrito “Aljun” Diamante. Bert Lina must be smiling from above.

And here is his story, as told between bites of a hurried lunch, as we were getting to know each other in the midst of the preparations for the awards. I walked into the room and I already heard his voice from the speakers, pitching his “plant to cup” coffee idea. I tapped his shoulder to introduce myself, and together with his family he welcomed me with sincere warmth and honest acceptance of our working together for the next few days.