From their humble beginnings as makers of durable bayong or basket that is traditionally used to the market, Davao Oriental’s bag weavers are now earning prestige and recognition as producers of export-quality bags and novelty items sold to the United States, Japan, Canada, Europe and Dubai.
“We are now exporting our products,” said Reynaldo J. Macandang, president of the Davao Oriental Bag Weavers Association (Dobwa).
The group, which has 500 members, makes use of environment-friendly materials—from the most common plant fiber, like the Manila hemp or abaca, to the most unique and unusual material in making bags, like the aromatic pandan leaves.
Abaca is a species of banana native to the Philippines. It is grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, and countries like Ecuador and Costa Rica. The plant is being harvested for its fiber, which is extracted from the leaf-stems.
Scientifically named Pandanus amarylliflius, pandan, a tropical plant, is used widely in South and Southeast Asia for cooking, tea, or as food flavoring. Filipinos cook rice with pandan to enhance aroma.
Dobwa, based in San Isidro, Davao Oriental, was among the exhibitors invited to showcase their unique products made possible by science and technology innovation, research and development at Davao City’s Abreeza-Ayala Malls last month.
Organized by the Southern Mindanao Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium, the recent “Sipag ni Juan Fiesta sa Dabaw: Farms and Industry Encounters through Science and Technology Agenda” event paved the way for various technology developers, inventors, researchers and producers, like Dobwa, to showcase their crafts.
The group’s exhibits are fashionable, colorful, export-quality bags and novelty items, machine- or hand-woven that are proudly made by the farmers themselves.
“We are exporting our products to Japan, Europe, Canada, the United States and Dubai now,” Macandang proudly told the BusinessMirror.
What makes their products unique is the fact that each item is carefully designed and crafted from plant fibers, which members of the association themselves grow on their farms.
The group has been showcasing their products by joining exhibits in different areas for quite some time now since the group was established in 2010.
Unlike plastics or artificial leather, bags and other products made from natural materials are biodegradable and will not add to the residual waste when they are eventually ruined and up for disposal after wear and tear.
Macandang, who started the business in 1989, claimed the group now has 500 members—men, women, children, persons with disability, out-of-school youths and even rebel returnees.
They were trained to contribute to the design, concept and weaving of the bags that are made of natural materials, like abaca, pandan and plant fiber, they can think of, including coconut shells for the accessories.
He said the business has its ups and downs but with the help of the local government of San Isidro and various national government agencies, like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Science and Technology (DOST), bag weaving is starting to gain popularity.
“We get orders for export every now and then,” he said in Tagalog.
While the DTI helps promote their products, the DOST helps put science into their craft by making their materials durable.
The Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology has a project dubbed “Fiber Plants in Davao Oriental: Stock Accounting and Developing the Potential for Cottage Industry Enhancement” wherein plants known as tambiling (Cyperus sp.), a flowering plant found usually in swampy areas, and romblon plant (Pandanus sp.), are the primary raw materials used.
The dried stalks of tambiling and the dried leaves of romblon are woven to make mats and bags.
The project provides an additional source of income to the marginal family through the women who are trained to become expert weavers.
“We learned how to process our materials, make them durable and colorful. We had a problem dying our materials before. But we have learned how to make the colors stick that improved our products,” he said.
Proudly, Macandang said that by producing export-quality products, they are able to popularize their small town as the source of export-quality bags and novelty items made of abaca and pandan.
More important, he said members who used to have no source of income or livelihood, are now earning, depending on their capacity to produce the ordered items from P2,000 a week up to as much as P20,000 a month.
“It is really a learned skill,” he said, adding the design and concept are products of their creativity and ingenuity.
“We learned to make something out of any possible materials we can find. We design and we carefully craft the accessories ourselves, like coconut shells. And we are able to make quality, environment-friendly products,” he said.
Image credits: Jonathan L. Mayuga
1 comment
Here at Our 7107 Islands, we open the whole world to the artistry of the Filipino artisans. From the 7107 islands throughout the Philippines, all creations and designs are produced with incredible craftsmanship, creativity, resourcefulness and work full of love that showcases unique culture and traditions of diverse tribes. https://www.our7107islands.com/