I love a saying of Pope Francis that means something like this… make footprints on the sand so that others may follow…or words to that effect. March, being Women’s Month, allows us to put on lenses to see new aspects of women. And how many strong women have carved out pioneering directions in their lives, setting standards and leaving behind accomplishments that others can pick up from and carry on. I know there are many, but these three have been within my circle in the past couple of months. Looking at their lives, you see a commonality: dynamism, a passion for what they do, the desire to help others – real purposeful lives.
In a recent trip to Baguio, I met up with two such women. Mayette Paragas who set up CORDnet or the Cordillera Network in 1998. This is the network of NGOs around the Cordillera region that works with the various tribes such as Kalinga, Ifugao and Benguet. What Mayette spearheaded was to coordinate a new development paradigm in mapping out the Cordillera region, one of the poorest in the country. Her strength is multi-stakeholder networking and community development. The real breakthrough was bringing together all the tribal groups to work as one united group with a common agenda for developing their area. Through the years, under Mayette’s leadership, CORDNet’s integrity has built trust. Mayette has consistently pushed for multi-stakeholder partnership from the community level, local government, other NGOs and even international support. She introduced social entrepreneurship, market access and livelihood trying to economically empower the poorest in the region.
Narda Capuyan’s success story as a Bontoc weaver is well known. She was a family planning nurse whose hand-knitting hobby attracted the mothers, encouraged the women to weave to keep them busy from making more babies.
She powered her brand Narda’s that showcased the traditional Cordillera ikat weaving tradition from the mountaintop looms of women to international markets in retail stores and fashion shows in the heydays of the ‘70s to the ‘90s. Narda’s continues to provide livelihood to hundreds of women weavers in the Cordillera region.
I met Narda not through weaving but because of meditation. So meeting up with her was not in her textile factory but in her beautiful retirement space surrounded by nature – the Winaca Eco Cultural Village in Acop Tublay, Benguet. In this 33-hectare village, Narda has created a haven for the Cordillera culture to enlighten community to be aware of cultural heritage preservation and natural ecology. It is a destination place now (and a retirement haven where you can actually build your own house), where events can be held, eco-trails can be experienced to see century-old indigenous trees like narra, giant ferns, and pine forests that offer shade to coffee shrubs and anthurium flowers. A thriving organic farm produces fresh vegetables and herbs. And of course, the weaving center is there. Narda is now surrounded not only by the weaving tradition she has pioneered and the women who continuously weave, but also the cultural preservation within a truly spiritual space of nature.
On Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road) in Makati, you will find Tesoro’s Handicraft, its flagship store built in 1995. The store sports a new look, with design on the building’s surface. In time for Salud Tesoro’s birth centennial, the family has renovated it, and has planned a whole series of events to support the new direction in retail and products. Her story is one of sheer grit, hard work and determination. When technically orphaned, she made her way from Bulacan to Intramuros until Tesoro’s emerged in 1945 from the ashes of the liberation that ended World War II. In the fluid reconstruction environment, Sally, nickname of Salud, convinced her husband, Nestor Tesoro, to leave his job as a Bureau of Immigration lawyer and join her “Sally’s Gift Shop” in central commercial street of Escolta in Manila. They renamed the business “TESORO’S.” We can safely say Sally was the first retailer of Philippine handicrafts buying straight from community groups and offering them market access. From its humble beginnings in Escolta, Tesoro’s today is a multi-million enterprise involved in multiple activities from retail merchandising of Philippine handicrafts to building and property management, an upshot of its successful diversification.
Today, Isabel “Beng” Tesoro, the youngest daughter of Salud’s 10 children, is Group CEO. Her objectives include: “to continue the legacy of my mother who supported our local craftsmen and designers from the very beginning; and to continue supporting hundreds of employees and thousands of key suppliers so we can provide world-class Filipino products.”