She walks the talk. Livelihood programs and environmental issues are the closest to her heart. As a private citizen and way before she became chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Senator Cynthia A. Villar has been very busy and active in implementing her own environmental programs (through Villar SIPAG or Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance). Her livelihood projects have environmental component since all of them use wastes as raw materials.
These are water hyacinths for the water lily basket-weaving enterprise and the handmade paper factory; coconut husks for the coconet weaving enterprise and the charcoal-making factory; kitchen and garden wastes for the organic composting facility; and plastic wastes for the plastic recycling factory that produces school chairs.
“With the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), we give rotary composters to public markets and areas nationwide, for the people to process their kitchen wastes into organic fertilizer. Also through DENR, we have waste plastics factory that produces school chairs made from plastic wastes which are given in public schools all over the country. We also give away vermi composting machines so communities may process their wastes into organic fertilizers as well,” she shared.
The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) also gives away decorticating machines to process coconut husks into coconet and charcoal, Mrs. Villar added.
For the record, everything started in the lady senator’s hometown, Las Pinas, and now it’s all over the Philippines giving small businesses to many of our kababayans while helping many cities in their zero-waste goals.
The senator could talk endlessly about her projects. We nearly forgot that we are dining with her because of the soft opening of her newest endeavor, the Havana Club, located right at the Villar Sipag community.
It’s not every day that you dine with one of the most productive and efficient leaders of the land. That’s why we were elated when we received invitation to be the first batch to experience Cuban dining and entertainment in this side of Metro Manila.
Ma’am Cynthia said Havana Club became her project because she acquired so many paintings from her family’s trip to Cuba. The paintings are good and are sold cheap in Cuba she said. Since not all can be accommodated in the Villar home she needed a location to display them, thus Havana Club was born, Havana being the capital of Cuba.
La Bodeguita del Medio Havana Club is a bar, restaurant and event place. The interior design reflects a gentle era for this Caribbean country. The lovely neon street lights and decorations make a perfect match. The bar and restaurant can comfortably seat between 140 to 160 people at any given occasions and is a perfect hang-out place for parties, date or even mini press conference. There is also a stage area for nightly performance with music and dance.
It is situated right in the 3-hectare property of Villar SIPAG Foundation along C5 Extension Road, Pulanglupa Uno, Las Piñas City. The new commercial enclave showcases several establishments as of now and a hotel, Mi Vida, is currently being constructed. This hotel will have 140 rooms and is expected to boost income and tourism in the area. Incidentally, the foundation gets its funding from the income it generates from the lessees in the SIPAG commercial property such as the Mushroom Burger, Jollibee, Coffee Project, All Day Supermarket and others.
That's how the Villars sustain their projects in the foundation, Villar SIPAG being a non-stock, non-profit organization that supports projects helping the less fortunate to help them break free from the clutches of poverty.
So that means, when you patronize the establishments, you're also in a way helping the foundation itself.
Havana Club seems like a fusion restaurant, experimenting on food innovation which features well-loved Cuban dishes while incorporating some personal twists, giving the menu more intense flavor.
The Club offers a combination of authentic, homemade Cuban classics: Ropa Vieja, Lechon Asado; lighter fare such as Cuban Sandwiches and wraps, tostones and maduros; a large selection of Spanish-inspired tapas; delicious Latin-American favorites such as Steak Chimichurri; and great American family classics like wings, fries, quesadillas and the best darn nachos in the area for you and your family to enjoy. They also feature a great selection of housemade desserts, the cheesecake is something to-die-for!. They also have a wide selection of drinks and beverages ranging from liquor to mocktail, sodas and even sparkling drinks so you’ve got a lot of options to choose from.
Here are some of the dishes we tried and dine with Mrs. Villar:
Paella Marinara
Cinderella Mocktail drink
Havana Club Mojito
Deep fried calamari and fries with dipping sauce
Havana Club Signature nachos
Havana Club baked Mussels
Some slowly-cooked fork tender, melt in your mouth beef
Havana Club officially opens by April 2018 from 5:00 to midnight, but the management plans to serve lunch in the near future. Aside from regular dinners and service, it is open to accepting events like mini-parties or mini-reunions as long as reservations are made prior to the date of the event. So, if you are from the Las Pinas and Paranaque area, you can now start holding your parties here. If you’re coming from other places of Metro Manila, you surely wouldn’t be disappointed coming to Havana Club.
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