Jickong's BBQ Hauz: Built on education

DAVAO CITY – The air is cool in the evenings here lately so I took time to scan the watering holes to see how the nightlife is in this Durian Capital of the Philippines.

It being a weekday, I did not expect much of a populace to fill the eating places and gimmick halls of the city. Maybe it was the food or the booze or simply the warm smile of the owner that made Jickong’s BBQ Hauz a post-work hangout.

The people in this 900 square meter food station at Prime Square Compound along F. Torres St., sat with various expressions. Some intense, some celebratory, some in deep romantic tangles and others lost in their thoughts as they ate the delicious paa sa manok bisaya  (native chicken leg) with gusto.

The people in the place were mostly young, and Red Horse beer was a hit along with buckets of San Mig Light. I guess the yuppies found the joint comfortable since its owner, Jose Carlos Dimafeliz or Jickong was a yuppie himself.

At 24, Jickong could have been in other places, enjoying with his friends, relaxing with banters and ice cold beer, or avidly engrossed with the computers at internet cafes. Instead Jickong was busy serving tables and supervising the kitchen.

He provided his barbecue place with the right ambiance for talking and “barkadahan”. The ambient music subdued each little tete-a-tete in every table, allowing for privacy in the crowd.

“Since I was a kid, I used to watch people fill up Colasa’s one of the pioneering barbecue grills in Davao City and I saw that it was a good enterprise. I saw the potential of setting up a store like this and so as soon as I finished college I asked my parents to help me with setting up the business.” 

Jickong shared when asked how he started his business. “My parents guide me daily. I don’t think I can do it without them,” said the young entrepreneur who is the son of Mr. Collin and Ms. Mackence Dimafeliz who also own the Carlin’s Flower Shops at NCCC Mall and Gaisano Mall in Davao City.

Jickong’s Barbecue Haus is also a pizzeria having Jickong’s Pizza available with the other delectable cuisines like babyback ribs, sisig and steaks. His restaurant starts from five in the afternoon to two in the morning.

“It is like a dream come true, to own one’s own business.” he intimated. When I questioned him on his need for a college education considering that one can set-up a barbecue business even without a college education, and one from Ateneo de Davao at that he just smiled and said, “ It is really different if you have been to school and finished a course. I am a management graduate. School has prepared me for business. What to expect, how to manage.” For Jickong he finds being a college graduate a plus to his business. “You are polished as you go along, but school provides the needed base. In school you learn not just academics but your personhood also develops.”

The most important part of schooling according to Jickong is being able to adjust to different kinds of people. “As you talk with your friends and teachers, as you communicate with them you are able to interact with them. You learn how to adjust to them, their thoughts, their ideas, how they think.” What he learned from school is more on how to innovate. How to be challenged by the thoughts of others and how to use their ideas with one’s own.

Jickong knew as early as a boy what he wanted. He dreamt of his own barbecue place. He studied to become a businessman, tooling himself for the business he wanted to set up. He focused on his desire and prepared for its fruition. He took heed of the experiences of others, observed and continued to dream and work on that dream. He asks those who like him want to set up their own enterprise to remain focused, to value education and to learn from others.

With his light disposition and his eyes on his dream, Jickong is bound to realize most of his wishes can come true by working for them.