Panaderia de Molo is more than just a bakeshop. Its name is embedded in the history of Iloilo, making it a witness to some of the most important events in the Molo district. Dr. Kristine Sanson-Treñas, the fourth generation owner of Panaderia de Molo, tells the colorful story of this antediluvian bakeshop. 
In the later part of the 19th century, five spinsters put up Panaderia de Molo whose sole heir was Dr. Treñas’ grandmother. “My great grandmothers might have started formulating things during their idle times in the afternoon,” Dr. Kristine reveals the conception of the bakeshop. History would tell us that in the 1800’s, the masons would use egg whites to cement the bricks of the walls of the churches they were building. So as not to waste the rest of the egg, women would make cookies out of them.
When women gave birth to that idea, Panaderia de Molo was also born. Although we cannot deny the fact that most of what we see in the panaderia has a lot of Spanish flavor to them (with the recipes having been handed down by Spaniards to the women during the Spanish colonization) we can still consider these creations as somehow Ilonggo originals since it was the Ilonggas who molded, baked and made them popular. For something whose popularity retains for more than a century, it must really be very special, for even songs sometimes fade away with time.
E-mail the author at jinki_young@yahoo.com