Tags: Cottage Industries, Handicrafts
By Anna Valmero
LAGONGLONG, MISAMIS ORIENTAL— Esmerna Gabutina started her business Tinabuan Arts and Crafts to help local weavers here who went jobless after fishermen started replacing abaca-woven fishnets with cheaper, imported plastic varieties from China
“There are a lot of skilled weavers who used to weave fishnets. The heyday of abaca fishnets in our area was in the 1960s but like in other areas, the influx of plastic nets deprived these weavers of their jobs,” said the 72-year-old Gabutina.
In 1997, after seeing the sad plight of her community, Gabutina sought the help of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of a potential business that would utilize the weaving skills of Misamis Oriental natives.
Gabutina admitted that she never had training in weaving or designing bags. She was a practicing pharmacist before she started the handicrafts business.
“I saw the potential in the business because abaca has been abundant in Lagonglong since 1942. In fact, our weavers are famous in the province and nearby areas because of our fine sinamay crafts. It has been a personal crusade for me to revive the industry along with my fellow Lagonglong natives,” Gabutina said.
It was also during this time that Gabutina decided to stay home to spend more time with her family so she shut down the pharmacy which she tends to in Metro Manila and went to the province.
After three years of training on product development and marketing, Gabutina commenced production of the abaca woven bags, decors and crafts. She allocated P50,000 from her personal savings as seed capital.
She and her daughter headed the design department while the local weavers executed them from table runners, place mats, decors, and up to more complex bags.
In 2005, Gabutina infused an additional P70,000 for the working capital from grants and sales that year hit P500,000.
Two years later, her group was approached by the Canadian Executive Service Organization Business Advisory Program (CESO BAP) and DTI to further improve the fiber coiling and warping process of abaca sinamay production. They also considered the addition of other natural fibers to form better warps.
Unlike other businessmen who pay contractual weavers with low wages, Gabutina said she says a premium of P40 – which, she says, is two times higher than the wage paid to most weavers – for a meter of sinamay produced by her local weavers. This is the reason her products are also more expensive compared to other local crafts.
“I am happy with this business no matter how small it is because I realized that with cottage industries, you actually help a lot of people to earn. When I was a pharmacist, I was the only one earning from my business. Now, I get to share my earnings to my community,” she said.
Get more information about Tinabuan Arts and Crafts
Related Stories:
Young entrepreneurs promote traditional Kalinga weaving
Palawan housewives help revive the art of ‘piña’ weaving
This fabric weaves centuries of Ilocano tradition
T’boli women weave history, culture in ‘t’nalak’ cloth
Fashion show highlights Sariaya’s ‘buri’ weaving
Advertising Agribusiness Agriculture Airline Industry Aquaculture Automobiles Banking Car Accessories consumer elec Consumer Electronics Consumer Goods and Concerns Cooperatives Cottage Industries Death Entrepreneurship Filipinos Abroad Food Establishments Groceries and Shopping Centers Handicraft Handicrafts hardware Hardware Solutions Horticulture Internet Livelihood Programs Malls Mass Media and Communications Mobile Phone Industry OFWs Outsourcing Real Estate Software Solutions technology Technology Industry teleco Telecommunications Tourism Transportation Vermiculture Wholesale and Retail
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
