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Pampanga’s Best founder dies

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The founder of Pampanga’s Best has died of renal failure last Oct. 3, her eldest son confirmed. 

Leticia Lolita Olalia Hizon, who developed and marketed the tocino (sweetened meat) in the 1960s, was 84 years old at the time of her death, her son former Bacolor mayor Jomar Hizon said. 

She began the tocino business in 1967 to support a growing brood while she taught in a public elementary school here. Eventually, she left teaching as she and her husband Angelo developed more meat products. 

Pampanga’s Best became a leading maker of meat products sold locally and overseas, employing numerous Kapampangans and winning prestigious awards in the process. 

Her face became the brand of the company, which paved the way for other manufacturers of meat products in the province. 

She served public office as she did charitable projects, becoming the first woman to be elected to the San Fernando legislative council. She lost in her candidacies as vice mayor of San Fernando and Bacolor as well as congresswoman of the third district.

She is survived by 12 children, 61 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.

“As the founder of Pampanga’s Best, the inventor of the original Tocino, and as a philanthropist in her community, her contribution to the Philippines’ economy is immeasurable. Likewise, her influence on Filipino cuisine cannot her overstated,” her daughter Angelica Hizon Pierson said on her social media post. Jomar said their father remains president and chair of the company.

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