There is a noticeable rise of businesses focused on the creative and artistic space in Cotabato City recently. The creative economy in the city commonly includes food, coffee and drinks, clothing and accessories, skin and body care essentials, graphic artworks, among others.

One of the most interesting facts about this development is that many of the founders and owners of these creative ventures belong to the younger generation. More young entrepreneurs are joining the business owners community in Cotabato City, who are putting their creative expressions and ideas out in public through their respective businesses.

Speaking through essential oil blends

Ronil Marphy Talatala is the owner and formulator of Aurèa Essential, a home-based business in Cotabato City specializing in organic essential oils customized to the concepts of emotions and feelings. An emergency room nurse by profession, Ronil was drawn to scents and essential oils to help him regulate and recuperate his energy after working in a high-stress environment. “I started my interest in the essential oil industry when I got hooked into scent diffusers using essential oils. There was this famous global essential oil brand that I collected and used regularly and even enrolled into their essential oils 101 class.”

Since then, Ronil got more and more interested in essential oils that he started to research and self-study how to make the oils himself. “I looked for the ingredients locally and was happy to find some, I started making the oils myself guided by my knowledge from books and classes, and from my personal intuition on how each oil blend should smell and feel like.”

At first, his successful batch of oil blends were given as gifts to his friends and loved ones only, he did not try to sell or make money out of it yet. The demand for venturing into business grew when most of the consumers of his oil blends all had praises and encouragement for Ronil’s craft. He then created a brand for his masterpieces and tried selling them onsite for the first time during a flea market event in Cotabato City.

“I never really had plans of selling Auréa Essential... What started as a passion, a curiosity, and a simple love for creating meaningful blends became a beautiful experience I will always remember…sharing this little piece of my heart with everyone.”

Today, Ronil continues to explore business potentials for Aurèa Essential by accepting more orders online, customized purchases for specific themed events, and for personal gifts as well. The young owner and formulator believes that the process of crafting his essential oil blends, which is informed by his personal gut and feelings, makes Aurèa Essential a special and unique venture.

A foodie at heart shares culinary passion in Cotabato City through her two restaurants

Padayon Cafe and Aphrodite Restaurant are two of the many well-known local food establishments in Cotabato City that offer signature quality food and drinks. Both are owned and managed by Justine Gonzales, a full-time communications practitioner serving the Bangsamoro Government. Justine has been a food enthusiast all her life, coming from a family of foodies and cooks, it only made sense that her independent project is related to food.

“It is not an easy job, being in the restaurant business, it takes so much critical thinking and effective planning. The work never stops, but my love for food and being able to share it to people keep me going.” Justine opened her first cafe business in 2023, she recalls how hard she asked her parents to convert a portion of their home lot to be the location of her cafe, she even cried herself once while explaining her plans to her parents. Gaining her parents and family’s support was a huge help in kickstarting her journey in the culinary industry. This allowed her to carefully craft her dream menu, choose the right ingredients, build her own team, and create a space for quality dining experience in the city.

Her favorite cuisines are Italian and French, she loves pastries, pizza and pasta, among other dishes. Justine went to culinary arts school to strengthen her capacity as a food business owner and manager. In 2024, she opened her second restaurant in Cotabato City, this one is called Aphrodite. This is one of the city’s semi fine-dining restaurants serving mainly a fusion of Italian and Mediterranean dishes.

The millennial restaurant owner is actively contributing to her community at the same time. Some of her corporate social responsibility activities include outreach programs for children battling cancer, scholarship opportunities for some of her employees, and collaborating with the city government in its tourism activities. “In doing this work I realized that profit and fame are not the end goals, it always boils down to how you help the people around you.”

Crafts for a cause, a brand with social purpose

Warrior Calix, a crafts and shop for a cause brand, did not start in the usual business development route. This enterprise was born out of the experience and journey of a young child battling cancer, along with the endless love and support of his family, friends, and community. “I started this brand to honor the journey of my dear son in battling cancer. I wanted to use this platform to inform the public about our experiences and advocate for children and families who experience the same.” Ria Charmaine, the mother of Calix, who currently undergoes treatment for cancer, is the founder and creative director of Warrior Calix. It is an online crafts and merchandise shop creating customized clothing, accessories, and art prints with messages about Calix and his family’s journey. All proceeds directly contribute to fund Calix’s treatment.

Ria is a crafter, an artist, and a professional teacher. She is currently on an indefinite leave to personally oversee the treatment and medication of Calix. Ria and her family are continuously learning how to manage Calix’s health in and out of treatment facilities. “I am constantly researching and reading online on how to take care of cancer patients. I have learned that diet and after care are huge components of their healing process. It is important to feed them the right kinds of food depending on what their bodies need at a particular time.” Calix is responding very well to his treatment and Ria notices that their careful and meticulous after care is helping the child retain his healthy body amidst medications.

“The learnings and hands-on experiences of our family’s journey pushed me to create a brand that will speak to the public about optimism and the importance of community in times of sickness.” All the products of Warrior Calix bring messages and information about the lessons learned from dealing with hardships, and it also fosters an online community where other parents of cancer patients reach out to Ria and exchange knowledge and notes about taking care of their children.

“Through this business, I plan to create more spaces for families and patients to learn from each other’s experiences in their respective cancer medication journeys. The power of community and togetherness in times of difficulty is underrated, the people supporting us in many different ways help us cope up.” At the moment, Ria is exploring joining more onsite events to share her son’s story and their family’s lessons through the artwork and merchandise of Warrior Calix.

A floursihing opportunity for college students to learn from the real world

““This experience is much more than about the income we get, for me, it is more about the real life experience we gain from participating in the business community here in Cotabato City. As students, we learn business theories from our classes, but it is a humbling experience when you get to personally manage your own business in real life. There are a ton of skills that we are learning for the first time and there are still a lot more that we need to learn.” Erriane, co-founder of The Petal Pop, believes that it is important for the young people to experience managing a business themselves to understand what it takes to survive when it is time for them to get out of school and integrate into the real world.

The Gen Z founders of The Petal Pop are now looking into more options on how they can sustain and expand their business. At the moment, their clientele from private citizens is growing as they continue to actively participate in flea markets and pop-up events in the city.

“When I was in college in 2025, I was inspired by a social media content creator doing flower arrangements online, I started learning floral arrangement myself.” Antoinette Sabaybay, together with her business partner, Erriane Gultiano, are the founders and managers of The Petal Pop. They were both in college studying business administration when Antoinette opened up the idea of starting their own flower business. They did not go for the usual flower shops route, instead, they went for the pop-up style of selling. It was a perfect business model for them who have limited capital funds, resources, and time to personally manage the venture.

“I asked my parents to lend us capital funds for our business concept, they were kind enough to provide us that, and I am just thankful that we were able to pay them back within the year of starting The Petal Pop.” Antoinette did not expect that they would sell out on their first pop-up experience, the support and reception of customers were overwhelming. Since then, they continued their business by providing exclusive flower arrangement services for events in the city such as weddings and other celebrations. Their following both online and in person continued to grow, they were earning money while studying in college.

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