Buri weaving generates income for Bogo locals

CEBU, Philippines - Given the institutionalization of their organization and the skills development trainings conducted, local weavers of the eastern part of Bogo City seem to enjoy the strong market demand for buri hats and bags, thus providing them with a good source of additional income.

Weaving has been the livelihood among plain housewives and women living in the coastal and farming barangays in Bogo City.

They earn an extra amount of income for such living, adding to the earnings of their husbands who are mostly lowland farmers and fishermen.

The local government of the city thought of institutionalizing an association for these weavers for a more systematized production.

Last June 2009, Weavers of Bogo City United for Improvement and Livelihood Development (WE BUILD) was established.

At present, there are 32 members of WE BUILD with only one male member.

Weavers of WE BUILD reside in the eastern part of Bogo City particularly those barangays in Odlot, Marangog, and Siocon.

The local organization is headed by Agnes VIllarin with Evelyn Luaton as secretary, Maribel Barte as treasurer and Maricar Dinsay as marketing officer.

With P50,000 as seed money provided by the local government as funding assistance, the group started to produce buri bags. However, the products seemed to be unprofitable for the organization due to less demand.

They then diverted to weaving of buri hats and have since then enjoyed good profit from it for over a year.

Dinsay said they have found a stable market demand for the buri hats with an average order of 1,000 pieces every month. She added that the figures could even reach to 2,000 to 3,000 pieces during peak seasons especially in Sinulog Festival.

WE BUILD still produces buri bags but upon order basis. Dinsay cited that they receive orders for buri bags which are usually used as giveaways. Orders range from five pieces during lean season and 50 pieces during peak season.

They sell the buri hat at P12 to the organization while the bags are priced at P25 to P100.

The association then sells the finished products to the network of clients and buyers referred by the local government and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) - 7. Most of their buyers come from Cebu City, Negros and Bacolod.

Barte said that a member could weave five pieces of buri hats in a day. She added that a weaver could finish one piece of the product in two hours.

She said that such livelihood does not need a huge capital since a bunch of buri leaves only costs between P5 to P10.

The processing of raw materials, however, requires labor and time since they have to boil the buri leaves, dry, wash and rinse them before they would be able to strip and dye them.

Although some members do not devote strong commitment to the organization, Luaton expressed gratitude for the establishment of the association since they are being trained to be more productive in quality given the volume of orders from the market.

DTI-7 regularly conducts enterprise development seminar and capacity building workshops for the members. Last year, the trade department conducted a series of three trainings. They are also planning to have another skills enhancement training for WE BUILD members within this month.

The buri hats and bags of the organization are considered to be part of the One Town One Product for the northern city. They are displayed during trade fairs and showcased during the festival in Bogo.

Currently, WE BUILD has an ongoing application for the accreditation of the group as a livelihood association from the Department of Labor and Employment, hopefully to be approved next month. /JOB (FREEMAN)