QC bakery celebrates first 'World Pandesal Day'

October 16 is World Bread Day for most of the world, but Quezon City's first bakery instead celebrated the first ever World Pandesal Day as a tribute to the country's go-to bread.

As part of the celebration, Kamuning Bakery gave away 30,000 free pugon-baked pandesal, along with juice and chocolate drinks, soaps, shampoos and conditioners, and presented the biggest pugon-baked pandesal to 12 public school teacher representatives.

"We want to promote pandesal as a famous bread, not only sa Pilipinas, para maging world-famous in the future," said Wilson Flores, owner of Kamuning Bakery.

GMA Network CEO and Chairman Felipe Gozon and Senator Sonny Angara attended the launch and led the ribbon-cutting for the Kamuning Art Gallery, Quezon City's new venue to showcase contemporary art.

Lower price of pandesal

According to Flores, the government should look into the price of ingredients before requesting bakeries to drop the price of pandesal.

"Sabihan dapat ang mga flour-millers, at saka four-importer, at saka four-traders... Sila dapat ang unang magbaba ng presyo, bago makapagbaba ng presyo ang mga panaderya," Flores said.

"Sa buong Southeast Asia -- Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia -- tayo ang pinakamataas na presyo ng arina," he added, explaining that the Philippines doesn't produce its own flour and is therefore dependent on imported flour.

"Sana makapaghanap ng substitute na local, kasi puro imported ang wheat at flour natin," Flores said.

However, Flores said that the government announced earlier today that the price of pandesal may be lowered this week.

"Tuwang-tuwa kami, na timing sila, na World Bread Day ngayong araw, tapos inannounce ng gobyerno na ibababa daw nila sana ang pandesal at lahat ng tinapay," Flores said. "Sana maging totoo yan." --JST, GMA News