FIFTY years ago, Dra. Alma Cafe Garduque had little more than a dream, a profession, and a ₱20,000 opportunity.
Today, that dream has grown into Eye Crafter, a homegrown optical brand with 24 branches across Visayas and Mindanao. But for her, the story has never really been about how big the business became. It has always been about what that small beginning allowed her to do for other people.
The story began in an unlikely place: a bundle of vegetables wrapped in newspaper.
Her father came home from the market and noticed an announcement about a government loan program for professionals. It offered ₱20,000 to dentists, physicians and optometrists who wanted to establish their own practices.
At the time, Dra. Alma was working as an optometrist in Bacolod.
Her father called her home.
“Alma, you come home. We can afford now to open your dream, to put up an optical clinic.”
She came home—and began.
A dream that started small
Dra. Alma had already earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Behavioral Science from Ateneo de Davao University when she decided to pursue optometry. Her decision was partly practical. Coming from a family of 12, with her father nearing retirement and younger siblings still in school, she knew she had to choose a path she could realistically afford.
Her dean at CEU - Centro Escolar University, where she eventually studied optometry, saw something different.
After graduation, when young Alma told her dean she might simply work for someone else, the response was direct: work for a while, but never settle for employment. Open your own clinic.
At the time, she did not think she could.
The ₱20,000 loan changed that.
To qualify, she first opened in Tagum, where she established Cafe Optical—the name taken from her maiden surname. But after only several months, she moved to Davao, where she believed her future belonged.
Starting was far from easy.
Even basic instruments were expensive, and money was often tight. Yet she held firmly to one lesson from her father: pay what you owe.
“Don’t mess with your creditors. Don’t mess with your debtors,” he would remind her. “Because if you are looking for a living, they are also looking for a living.”
That principle would become part of the foundation she built her business on: honesty, responsibility and trust.
Building a name people could trust
Cafe Optical eventually became Eye Crafter as Dra. Alma expanded into malls, inspired in part by the name Lens Crafters she encountered during her time in the United States.
The change reflected the clinic’s growth, but the heart of the practice remained the same.
From its beginnings as a small optical clinic in 1976, Eye Crafter has grown into an established optical service provider with branches in Davao and other parts of the country. Its presence has included major shopping centers such as Gaisano and SM, helping bring eye care and eyewear services closer to more communities. Public business listings also identify Eye Crafter as offering services including eye examinations, eyeglasses and contact lenses.
But for Dra. Alma, growth was never meant to replace the personal touch that shaped the practice from the beginning.
For her, the reason Eye Crafter survived five decades is simple: SERVICE.
She wants patients to walk into an Eye Crafter branch feeling as though they have met a friend—someone professional, honest and genuinely concerned about getting their prescription right.
“Tamang grado, tamang serbisyo.”
For Dra. Alma, the phrase is more than a slogan. It is the principle that has guided how Eye Crafter serves its patients.
Getting the right prescription matters more than simply making a sale.
If the correct prescription is not available, Eye Crafter does not simply give a patient whatever is on hand just to complete a transaction. The patient is asked to return when the proper grade can be provided.
It is a simple decision, but one that reflects the kind of relationship Dra. Alma wanted to build with every patient: one based on honesty and trust.
“It’s about building trust,” she said.
And trust, she believes, is what allows a practice to last—not just for a few years, but for generations.
The same philosophy continues to shape Eye Crafter’s place in the community: helping people see clearly while making eye care more accessible to those who may otherwise struggle to afford it.
When success became a way to serve
One of the biggest turning points came when Eye Crafter entered SM Davao.
Dra. Alma remembers feeling anxious. She was a local businesswoman with limited resources, entering a mall alongside established optical companies from Manila.
Her husband encouraged her.
“You can do it. Let’s do this.”
She did.
Her defining moment started at SM Davao and that paved the way for the reach she had built—a milestone that did more than prove the business could grow.
For someone who knew firsthand what it meant to grow up with little, success carried another responsibility.
“I always think about how difficult it is to be poor,” she said.
So she began helping where she could.
Eye Crafter opened its scholarship program beyond relatives and supported aspiring optometry students. Dra. Alma estimates that around 120 scholars have benefited through the years, with many eventually becoming optometrists and establishing practices of their own.
The program reflects another way Eye Crafter has contributed to the profession—not only by serving patients, but by helping create opportunities for people who want to become eye care professionals themselves.
She also made affordable eyewear part of the business’s reach, with options priced as low as ₱595 and ₱795 for people who might otherwise struggle to afford glasses.
For Dra. Alma, a teacher, household worker or tricycle driver deserves access to proper eyewear just as much as anyone else.
It brings the meaning of “Tamang grado, tamang serbisyo” beyond the examination room: the right service should also be within reach of the people who need it.
“I never close my doors. If I can, I will.”
Even the help she gives outside the business is often deliberately quiet. She prefers people not to know where assistance comes from.
It is a value rooted in the same home where the dream began.
A legacy bigger than a business
Dra. Alma does not credit herself alone for Eye Crafter’s journey.
Her father gave her the courage to begin. Her late husband became, in her words, “the wind beneath my wings,” encouraging her whenever a new goal seemed too difficult.
And now, the family she built is helping carry the legacy forward.
Of her four children, three are optometrists while one is a doctor of medicine. Her children now have clinics of their own, contributing to the 24 Eye Crafter branches across Visayas and Mindanao.
There is even another generation waiting in the wings — grandchildren in school whom she hopes will eventually enter optometry school.
For Dra. Alma, that possibility brings the story back to where it began.
A small seed.
₱20,000.
Five decades later, it has become something much larger than the clinic she once imagined.
Beyond 50 years
At 75, Dra. Alma continues to work and help people, carrying with her the same conviction that guided her when she was a young optometrist trying to build a practice with limited means.
What she wants for Eye Crafter is not simply more branches or greater success.
She wants it to remain.
“Even beyond my time,” she said, “I want it to stay afloat.”
Because the legacy she hopes to leave is not measured only by the eyeglasses sold or the branches established.
It lives in the patients who trusted her, the students who became professionals, the people who received help without ever knowing her name, and the children who now have the opportunity to continue what she started.
And perhaps that is what “Tamang grado, tamang serbisyo” has come to mean after 50 years—not simply finding the right prescription, but remembering the person behind every pair of eyes.
From a newspaper-wrapped bundle of vegetables came a ₱20,000 loan.
From that ₱20,000 came a clinic.
From that clinic came a business.
And from that business came five decades of service—one that Dra. Alma hopes will continue long after she is gone.
“The seed of ₱20,000 should continue in the future,” she said.
For Eye Crafter, 50 years may be a milestone.
For Dra. Alma, it is simply proof that a small beginning, when nurtured with courage, trust and a commitment to serve, can become a legacy. GCG