GENERAL LUNA, Siargao Island (MindaNews / 21 January) – For coffee lovers, it’s not just a delight but God-sent, after more than a month living in the typhoon-ravaged island sans good coffee.
Ryan Mueco is all smiles serving free coffee to Siargao residents and stranded tourists on his mobile café on Thursday (20 January 2022). MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO
An owner of a coffee shop in Iligan City came to Siargao Island to bring not just relief goods but also to offer what he does best – prepare coffee and serve it for free.
“Me and my girlfriend, and a friend came here to bring relief goods, solar lights, water filtration devices,” said Ryan Mueco, owner of the Gnar Co. café in Iligan. They arrived in the island on January 11. Their side activities: offering free coffee and charging station as electricity is still down in this island.
He said he and his team brew 150 cups a day for the coffee-starved people of this surfing capital.
When MindaNews visited him on Thursday, Mueco and company were brewing non-stop across Payag Suites, several meters away from the world-famous Cloud Nine in Barangay Catangnan in Siargao Island.
Away from downtown
They chose this spot to serve free coffee because cafés in the area were wiped out by super typhoon “Odette,” and avoiding the downtown area to allow the coffee shops there that have just started to reopen to start attracting clients again.
“We learned that a few coffee shops have reopened, cafés like White Beard and Lunares, so we moved here,” Ryan said.
His girlfriend, Olli Sagarino, and another close friend, Raven Benj Rodriguez, are helping him out brewing cups upon cups of coffee.
The Gnar Co. team – (L-R) Raven Benj Rodriguez, Ryan Mueco and Olli Sagarino – busy brewing coffee for Siargao residents on Thursday (20 January 2022). MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO
“It’s truly a luxury for people whose place was ruined, and then able to take a break from all the things that need to be done for the day, then drop by our place to sip cold coffee,” Ryan said.
Before “Odette,” Siargao used to have the most number of coffee shops in the whole Caraga Region.
Tourists, international and local, have flocked to the island in the past few years, and was adjudged as the best island in Asia in 2021 by the US-based luxury and lifestyle travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler in its 34th Readers’ Choice Awards.
Ryan used to live in this town in 2015 to 2016, working as a barista and chef in one of the restaurants here.
“My plan was to branch out a coffee shop in the island, but ‘Odette’ washed away my dream,” he said with a smile.
Ryan shakes it off, and instead continues to brew coffee for anyone who came to his mobile café.
Olli and Raven both said Ryan shed tears when they arrived on the island.
It’s a busy day at Ryan Mueco’s mobile café in General Luna, Siargao Island on Thursday (20 January 2022). MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO
“He was saddened with what he saw,” said Olli, knowing Ryan’s love for the island, and the many friends he met here.
Instead of attending to their barely surviving business in their home city in Iligan, they made the decision to come to the island, knowing how hard the people have been going through. They themselves saw it firsthand when typhoon “Sendong” ravaged their hometown in 2011 and killed hundreds with the rampaging flood waters.
A great cup
French tourist-resident Ambre Renaud said it’s a great cup of coffee.
“The taste is great, nothing beats it,” she said, adding it’s the greatest because Ryan and company are making it out from their heart and passion.
Niña Racho, a staff of Payag Suites, had her gadgets charged and had consumed three cups of coffee.
“It’s great coffee. They have iced coffee. Incredible,” she said. “I wish they will stay long,” Racho said.
With their limited hard-earned personal funds, Ryan and his team were supposed to leave the island a week after arriving. But when their friends knew about what they were doing, they chipped in to extend their service.
They are more than happy to extend their mission on the island, they said. “Until supplies last,” Ryan said.
Generous donors who would like the Gnar Co. team to provide more free coffee and charging station to Siargao residents, Ryan said they can accept donations via Gcash (09062364031) or UnionBank (account number 109423444068 c/o Olli Sagarino. (Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)
Ryan Mueco takes a break after serving many cups of free coffee to Siargao residents on Thursday (20 January 2022). MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO
