Coffee and Saints Café’s heavenly food and saintly mission

I don’t really fancy malunggay coffee—but it does have a unique flavor and is said to be a healthy choice—or King David’s chicken or Bango (bangus plus mongo). But these are some of the specialties at Coffee and Saints Café located inside the compound of Saint John Bosco Parish in Makati City.

There are, however, two reasons I look forward to having a leisurely breakfast there almost every weekend: to practice the virtue of patience, and have a unique dining experience, one that fulfils both body and soul.

A lesson in patience

According to Father Dave Buenaventura, SDB, director of the Don Bosco Pugad Center that runs Coffee and Saints Café, they used to have a problem with the slow service of their chef, a graduate of the Maya Culinary School who had no experience.

Waiting for your order to arrive is a way of practicing the virtue of patience, Father Dave said.

Years ago, I jokingly told my husband Riz that having breakfast at Coffee and Saints seemed like a good penance, especially as we usually go there right after attending Mass and weekly confession. It used to take about 30 to 40 minutes to get our pandesal with cheese omelette or Bangsilog (bangus, sinangag, and itlog). While waiting for our orders, we usually finished praying all the five mysteries of the rosary plus some prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Lately, we have been amazed at how much the service has improved: our orders now often arrive when we are just about to begin the third mystery of the rosary, or roughly 10 to 15 minutes after placing our orders.

In an interview with GMA News Online, Father Dave explained that this was so because a Kapampangan chef has been guiding the Pugad boys in running the café. They are a livelihood project for migrant youths of Don Bosco Pugad together, with Caltex oil company.

Coffee and Saints Café, which can seat up to 50 people, serves mainly Filipino dishes at reasonable prices:

• Bango (Bangus/Monggo) for P95;
• Egg Ampalaya for P50;
• Bicol Express for P75;
• Chicken with Pinya for P75;
• Pancit Bihon for P75;
• Pork Pickles for P75;
• King David’s Chicken for P100;
• Malunggay Citrus for P50;
• Calamansi Juice for P50;
• and Malunggay Coffee for P50.

On the average, Coffee and Saints caters to about 60 customers daily, mostly churchgoers and residents of nearby condominiums, or office workers.

Explaining the name of the café, Father Dave said, “It's ‘Coffee’ because we’re promoting our local Philippine coffee and it's ‘Saints’ because I’m handling boys and I wanted to have models and the best models for them are saints.”

“We have our core values, and number one is honesty. If a person is honest, we believe he can be trusted, he will be faithful. If one is honest and faithful, we can be sure he will have that sense of justice to give to others what is due to them,” he added.

While waiting for their orders at Coffee and Saints, diners can read books about the lives of saints, which are conspicuously placed within a hanging bookshelf in the middle of the café.

Caring for urchins

Don Bosco Pugad Center cares for youths in conflict with the law, as well as poor and needy migrants from ages 17 to 24.

Father Dave said that PUGAD is an acronym for Parish Urchins Gathered at Don Bosco. Pugad boys stay at the center for one year and six months, receiving free education, board, and lodging. Then when they turn 18, they leave the center to look for work.

However, Father Dave said they sometimes accept 16 year olds, usually elementary school or high school dropouts, depending on the needs of the boys and their families.

These 16 year olds “still need to finish their elementary studies and high school studies so they could stay with us. They take the ALS—that's Alternative Learning System. It's a program given by the Department of Education for boys dropped out from elementary or high school, but are capable of finishing their respective courses.”


Father Dave said Pugad boys “come from poor and needy families meaning to say, the work of the parents are, majority are farmers, fishermen, tricycle drivers, o yung mga namumulot ng basura.”

He explained that Don Bosco Pugad takes in these young boys to prevent them from being abused by others or even being taken in as fighters of rebel groups.

“They are the targets of the drug syndicates. They can act as runners for pushers, anyway they're used. Since they are not studying, they are not working, they have nothing to lose. They need the money,” he said.

“They are also targeted by prostitution, becoming boy prostitutes… again, it's the lure of money that would make them fall for this kind of activity,” he added.

Youthful dreams

Some of Pugad’s youth managed to land jobs in five-star hotels and first-class restaurants both in the Philippines and abroad.

Raymond Lontoc, 16, of Palakpak, Rosario Batangas, is currently a cashier and food server at Coffee and Saints, but hopes to work in a good company someday.

Lontoc, who belongs to family of 10 children, said he ended going to Don Bosco Pugad Center because his family cannot afford to send him to school.

He said it was not difficult to work at Coffee and Saints, “basta mapakita mo lang na kailangan may tiwala at tsaka kayang hawakan yung pera.”

“Libre naman lahat po, pangangailangan namin, higaan, pangangailangan sa pangangatawan, pagkain lahat po libre naman po lahat,” Lontoc explained about the benefits they receive as Pugad boys.

Asked how becoming a Pugad boy changed his life, Lontoc said, “Kung sa dati po yung buhay ko po parang simple lang po ako. Yung hindi ko po naiisip yung mga kagaya noon. Natuto po ako dito magdasal. Dito ko rin natutunan mag-rosary gabi-gabi.”

He also dreams of a better life for his family. “Simple lang. Maiahon lang yung pamilya ko sa hirap at yung tsaka sa magiging pamilya ko magkaroon ng maayos na samahan,” he said. — VC, GMA News