Jim Bacarro and Ali Sangalang (Carissa Alcantara)

What started as a simple one-liner on Tumblr, Linya-Linya's creative, witty memes became a reminder for people that it is okay to experience challenges because "Gets Ka Namin." 

During an exclusive office tour of their new headquarters in Quezon City on Aug. 3, Linya-Linya's creative director Ali Sangalang gladly shared how they started their brand. 

"Passion project lang talaga, itong Linya-Linya, isang writer at isang artists na gustong magshare ng mga kalokohan nila, mga hirit lang siya paired with doodles, illustrations about everyday experience," Ali said. 

(it's really just a passion project, this Linya-Linya, a writer and an artist who likes to share their silly things, paired with doodles and illustrations about everyday experience) 

Those small banter started when he worked as a government employee with his colleague Panch Alvarez. Ali said they were both stressed at work and needed something to express their feelings. 

Jim Bacarro and Ali Sangalang 

"Pinaka root niya talaga is stress kami (Panch) as young government workers, so gumamit kami ng content to express our feelings, nagulat kami kasi maraming nakakarelate," he added. 

(The real root of this was stress (Panch) as young government workers in stress, so we used content to express our feelings, we were shocked because many people could relate) 

Ali and Panch began their creative one-liner memes on Tumblr from 2012 to 2015, until Jim Bacarro (Saab Magalona's husband) decided to join the two.

According to Ali, Jim was his classmate since Grade 3 and the only person who believed in the potential of their content. Jim became the managing director after Panch Alvarez left the company to pursue his career. 

Jim Bacarro and Ali Sangalang with some members of the press (Carissa Alcantara)

Jim also shared during the interview that he told his wife, Saab Magalona, about quitting his full-time job to invest in a company that "makes memes." 

"That time Me and Saab just got married, I told her na Uy, I'm gonna quit my full-time job to join a company na nagawa ng memes, so parang sobrang weird pero it felt so real kasi gusto namin yung ginagawa namin" Jim said. 

Starting from a simple one-liner joke on the internet, Linya-Linya became a staple brand for expressing emotions in a fun and relatable way. 

From selling shirts in bazaars, they eventually started growing their stores into malls and collaborating with artist, musicians and now on the comedy field. 

Celebrating Linya-Linya Land 2023 

After the success of Linya-Linya Land in 2019, Ali and Jim, together with Gabi-Gabi Na Naman Productions, will give their fans a new and bigger Linya Linya Land celebration. 

During the roundtable interview, Jim mentioned that this year's celebration is about giving back to their community and supporting them throughout the years. 

"I think special itong Linya-Linya land kasi this is the first one we had after the pandemic. But ultimately, we wanted to show our thanks to the community, kaya it's the ulimate celebration," Jim said. 

(I think this Linya-Linya land is special because this is the first one we had after the pandemic. But ultimately, we wanted to show our thanks to the community, so it's the ultimate celebration) 

Linya-Linya Land celebrates the power of collaborations in supporting community-wide initiatives. Partnerships often result in better, long-lasting outcomes, and with various creative disciplines coming together for a day to address shared objectives and values with a distinctly fun approach, no barrier is difficult to overcome.

LLL 2023 will be happening on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 123 Block in Mandaluyong City, from 3 pm onwards.