GMA sees 3-M jobs on weaving industry

By Jeehan V. Fernandez

President Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo sees the establishment of three million jobs through the handloom weaving industry of Miag-ao , Iloilo .

Arroyo visited Brgy . Indag -an of said town and met with the members of Indag - an Multi-Purpose Cooperative Saturday. The cooperative manufactures hand-woven textiles for garments, shawls, place mats and materials for bags, throw pillow cases and furnishings which are becoming popular for its unique fabric and craftsmanship.    

The president's plan is to showcase Miag-ao's hablon industry as one of the measures on the creation of six to ten million jobs in six years under her 10-point agenda. This is being included in the “ One Town , One Product” project.

The strategy is to come up with a good promotion of Miag-ao's traditional woven products like mosquito nets, blankets, pillow cases, patadyong , among others.

In case of hablon , there would be sustained promotion, quality control, effective marketing, product development and continuous weavers' training. The project has targeted to develop the skills of some 50 weavers on the first year.

Arroyo cited , the British government supports the project as she also lauded the people of Miag-ao for the strong participation to the project.

“This is a very important project for people to know about opportunities through small and medium scale enterprises ( SMEs ),” Arroyo stressed.

She noted that there is a P1.1 million fund and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) various training programs as part of the operating expenses of the project.

The assistance from other sectors like the British Council provided P1.5 million for the construction of the weaving and training centers now employing some 92 workers as of December 2004 with an average P3 ,500 monthly income each and generating sales of about P690,000.

It can be noted that the Miag-ao's handloom weaving industry had its peak in 1950-1970. Though it suffered in the 80's due to extreme competition brought about by modern textile mills, the industry was revived in 1991with its environment-friendly and labor-intensive nature, through the help of DTI.

The cooperative then had only five women weavers who focused on the production of the traditional patadyong , a plain or checkered designed textile. With the skills training, the women produced banda and kerchiefs out of it, which began the realization of the potential of handloom industry.

Mayor Gerardo Flores has made the handloom weaving a priority concern in 2001. The initial step was tapping the services of international fashion designer Miag-aonon Nono Palmos , who staged a Hablon Fashion Show at Miag-ao Plaza in February 2003 Salakayan Festival.

Later on, the sales of hand-woven products like patadyong , hinabol and hablon increased by 50 percent, benefiting the families who depended on weaving.

Miag-ao's hablon was also an attraction during the Wow Philippines in Intramuros as one of the bestsellers product with a gross of P178 ,898.50 in the period of two weeks.

With its success, Flores created the Salakayan Development Foundation Inc. which is tasked to develop the local industries of handloom weaving.