Rice Cracker-Making in Sancagulis

An unassuming house in Brgy. Sancagulis has been producing rice crackers since the '80s.

According to Romulo Castillo, President of the Sancagulis Multi-Purpose Cooperative which owns the mini-factory, he and his coworkers found themselves laid off from their job in Bulacan as fish cracker factory workers in the '80s. They went back home to Sancagulis with no idea what to do for gainful employment when it occurred to them to put into good use their knowledge and experience in making fish crackers.

During President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration, Castillo and company decided to seek the help of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). They learned about its Adjustment Measure Program or AMP, which is "a safety net program that provides package of assistance and other forms of intervention as a means of helping workers and companies cope with economic and social disruptions." To avail of the program, the Sancagulis residents decided to pool their resources and form a workers' organization and have it accredited.

Duly registered in 2005 with 124 members, the organization was able to procure P1.1 million in DOLE assistance. On top of this, the Department of Science and Technology also stepped into the picture, providing help in packaging and labeling the product.

This is how the Sancagulis rice cracker was born.

The product was well-received by the locals. Public market stalls and sari-sari store owners eventually carried the product among the items they sold.

The no-fish, no-gluten cracker comes in three varieties: plain (orange color and curly shaped), turmeric (yellow and square-shaped), and spicy.

The cracker is indeed made of plain rice but it is fortified with some corn and cassava. The fortified ground rice is first steamed, then run through a food processor to flatten it and remove excess water, and then fried and finally dried out in the sun.

As of 2018, the factory employs 20 people working in shifts.

Carrying the barangay’s name, it can’t be helped that the Sancagulis rice cracker is now closely associated with the place. But with their clientele reaching as far as places outside town where beer drinkers are looking for some cheap pulutan (bar chow), it comes as no surprise that the Sancagulis rice cracker eventually got associated with the town of Bayambang itself.