Rey Anthony H. Chiu
TAGBILARAN CITY, September 7 (PIA)—The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
granted to Bien Unido weavers a package of equipment that would
enhance their productivity and open up options for more diverse romblon
(pandanus) woven products.
The package include a
mechanical drier worth P470,000, three heavy duty sewing
machines worth
127,800, and a digital weighing scale for accurately measuring dye in
coloring the romblon strips prior to weaving.
The package is in a
DTI Shared Service Facility housed in buildings at the back of the Bien Unido
Municipal Gymnasium.
Handed to Bien Unido
Weavers Association (BUWAS) as managers, the facility could also be
used not just by the 37 members but for all romblon weavers within
the vicinity, said DTI Regional Director Asteria Caberte during the handover
ceremonies, September 2.
BUWAS has been a DTI
partner in the Bayong Development Program, Caberte said.
Already imbued with the
romblon weaving tradition, Bien Unido residents received the needed government
boost when from their traditional mat weaving, the move to reinvent the bayong
(bawjot) had people interested in the mainstreamed fashionable romblon mat
bags.
But hounded by
production inadequacies especially during rainy seasons, the bayong development
slackens as weavers rely on the heat of the sun for drying the fibers before
they can be dyed and woven.
And lacking in equipment
to adequately deliver the exact amount of dye and the facility to fully immerse
the fibers in the specified colors, BUWAS saw a concern in the quality of their
dyed fiber.
In response to the
production gap, DTI in Bohol under Officer in Charge Maria Soledad
Balistoy pushed for the SSF to make local weavers more efficient to ultimately
enhance product competitiveness which would result to expanded capabilities and
better income.
BUWAS, according to
chairman Marina Boniel, has a current production volume of 200 bayongs a
month.
With the new facility
which totals P610,600, they are looking at 150 percent increase in
production volume, which could help them produce no just for local markets and
Cebu exporters but Manila and foreign markets as well, Caberte told
media.
This should also
increase the incomes of members, DTI Bohol Project Development Officer Engr.
Jerome Gabin added.
He said at the current
income of P7,000 a month, the facility would exponentially increase their
incomes of up to P30,000 a month.
More to the new facility
that would leapfrog BUWAS to a forward position in the local weaving market,
Caberte also committed to the SSF managing group more product development
programs.
"We have witnessed
how slow, productive weaving is, that even the value of the material and the
labor component are not included in the pricing," she noted.
Caberte hinted to local
weavers the need to diversify over the limited aspects of weaving.
"Today, I commit
for intensive product development for Bien Unido weavers. We need to elevate
this into a social enterprise," she declared.
With the regional
commitment, Balistoy also committed for values and entrepreneurial skills
trainings for the weavers who have struggled to keep a tradition of weaving
alive in the second district of Bohol also assured inclusive growth to poor
weavers. (rmn/rac/PIA-7/Bohol)