Aboitiz Group Foundation boosts livelihood of Lapu-Lapu women

To lovers of the best-tasting Cebu lechon, the twine used to sew shut the pig’s belly must be the least appetizing part.

To Lenelyn Carsula and other housewives like her, the twine is not just a throwaway detail. It is a lifeline ensuring the survival of their families in Barangay Subabasbas on the coastline of Lapu-Lapu City.

Ironically, despite the hundreds of lechon sold in and exported from Cebu daily, Carsula and other mangbebelyo (rope-weavers) like her earn only a measly sum of P6 for every standard length of coil.

Middlemen buying from the weavers reap more profits when they sell the coils at a much higher price to lechon vendors and other entrepreneurs.

But a more promising future may await Carsula and co-members of the Subabasbas Women Association of Rope-Making (SWARM) and two other local groups once they maximize the P440,000 day care and enterprise center granted to them by the Aboitiz Group Foundation Inc. (AGFI).

During the center’s recent turnover and blessing witnessed by Lapu-Lapu City First Lady Paz Radaza and barangay chairwoman Gregoria Justiniani, AGFI president Erramon Aboitiz said the Subabasbas center is the latest project undertaken under the foundation’s twin programs on enterprise development and primary health and child care.

AGFI project officer Wilfredo Bayking described the Subabasbas center as a "combo," it being both a daycare and an enterprise center.

The project came about after barangay leaders and residents noted that mothers and caregivers were idle while waiting for their preschool children at the center.

After expressing the need for a facility that would enable them to utilize their training in various livelihood projects, local groups like SWARM, Women’s Organization of Ropemakers in Kapilis (WORK) and Pundok sa mga Ropemakers Mindulog Panas Tribo (PROMPT) submitted a proposal to AGFI for assistance.

Councilor Robert Espinosa, chairman of the livelihood committee, said the groups will convene soon to carry out their planned income-generating activities such as cooking and catering, floor wax making, and sewing.

The three groups, with a combined membership of 64 women, will have the advantage of having their children attend classes in the daycare center on the ground floor while they worked on the second floor.

Angelita Jumao-as, a day care worker and livelihood volunteer, foresees that the bulk of livelihood activities will focus on traditional rope-making.

Carsula and Jumao-as are optimistic that the groups could apply for capital to buy abaca, lampacanay, lanot and other fibers which they will make into rope and twine to be used by shipbuilders, lechon makers and even producers of decorative woven baskets for export.

By earning more, the Subabasbas women see themselves not just as equals to other entrepreneurs, but also to their husbands in supporting their families.