The tas te of suc ces s BY MIKE BAÑOS


ANG MANOK NI SR. PEDRO, perhaps now one of the most popular roast chicken chains in the Visayas and Mindanao—and yes, it is also making its mark in Luzon—is like many of its kind, a beautiful family success story.


Many think it was Rep. Peter M. Unabia of the first congressional


district of Misamis Oriental who started “Lechon Manok ni Sr. Pedro” and started it (after all, it bears his name) But his brother Antonietto played a major role in turning the dream into reality. Antonietto Mamawag Unabia, a local boy from Malaybalay,


Bukidnon, studied commerce at San Isidro College. When he retired from the Philippine National Bank (PNB) as a


credit investigator of 12 years, Nieto as he is known to friends, took his lump sum retirement pension and decided to go into business. Between 1991 and1992, he went into various small business


ventures taking the Bachelor Bus around Mindanao. He was at one time or another a comprador of fish from Surigao, dressed chicken from Cebu, office supplies from Cagayan de Oro, and veterinary supplies. He even put up a pool hall and a majongan at his residence. All failed. Down but not out, Nieto rented half of a 32-square meter lot next


to the PNB-Malaybalay branch and started selling snacks to his former colleagues. He would eventually provide breakfast and all kinds of meals in his menu. Named “Middle Chamber,” Nieto functioned as an all-around guy


for his wife Nida, helping prepare the food, run errands and the like. It was during these desperate times that the idea to sell lechon


manok came to him when he noticed that their litsonero after 9 am. With broilers sourced from nearby backyard poultries, Nieto


started experimenting with formulations for three months until he hit the right one which suited his taste. Lechon manok in the first place was already an obsession since high school.


44 | balikbayan | OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2010 | balikbayanmagazine.com | Still unbranded, Nieto started selling a whole chicken at P90


although he also sold it as cut-ups like wings, legs and breast. As usual, it was his faithful band of PNB colleagues who started bringing whole lechon manoks home to share it with their family instead of simply dining in at the Middle Chamber. “Sugod pa lamang, abi nako 30 ka tibuok litson manok lamang


kada adlaw mabawi ko na akong suweldo sa PNB, (“When we started, I was thinking that with only 30 lechon manok sold daily, I would have already approximated my salary at PNB),” he recalls. Soon, Malaybalay branch was selling 200 litson manok per day. Nieto has also his share of memorable moments. During Gloria


Arroyo’s visit when she was still senator, Nieto recalls how her husband Mike consumed two whole chickens in one sitting. “Kalami jud” (It’s so delicious), he says. He would hear it more often after that. It was during this time that his younger brother, now congressman


Peter, took notice of his brother’s success and decided to open a branch in Cagayan de Oro. An agriculture graduate from Xavier University, Peter had just


retired from his job as a detailman from Unilab. He was looking for another business. “Our first outlet was located in the present site of Cecil’s Bake Shop


at the corner of Hayes and Corrales Avenue fronting Xavier University. We named it ‘Lechon Manok ni Sr. Pedro’ from the popular RMN radio drama, ‘Ang Manok ni San Pedro’ starring the characters Esteban Escudero, his sidekick Guliat and the magic fighting cock named ‘Ogis.’” The first branch was a partnership between the two brothers who first sourced their chickens from Vitarich.


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