05/03/2014
THE EUROPEAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES VISITS SARIAYANAS BURI PRODUCTS, AND ADA’S GARDEN SPA, HOTEL AND RESORT PART 1
By Eric J. Dedace
On the early afternoon of Wednesday, January 29, 2014, two representatives of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) visited SARIAYANAS Buri Products and Ada’s Garden Spa, Hotel and Resort in Barangay Gibanga, Sariaya, Quezon. Accompanied by Sir Eric of the Department of Trade and Industry Office in Quezon Province, they were Mr. Manolo F. Nicanor, the Manager, and Ms. Ma. Suzette Gamido, an Officer of the International Trade Fairs and Events Management, a subsidiary of the ECCP. They were on a mission to promote high grade Philippine made products abroad and they relied on the DTI to connect them to the right people and enterprises for the important undertaking. Ms. Susan Masilang – Caballes, Sariaya Tourism Council Board of Directors member and proprietress of SARIAYANAS and Ada’s Garden Spa, Hotel and Resort is an active partner of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sponsored resurgence and upgrading of Sariaya’s traditional buri weaving industry, aside from being the proponent of the local wellness industry hereabouts.
Truly, it has been years since the DTI conducted a training on weaving decors from Buri starting early in the year 2009, which the Kalahi Cooperative of Barangay Gibanga led by Ms. Caballes availed and attended. On July of 2010, they started producing Buri slippers and for convenience, Mrs. Caballes lent sewing machines once used in their T shirt business in Cainta and from there, they joined the Rizal Association Trade Fair of October 2010 and were able to sell P22,000 worth of slippers. Moreover, at that time, the signature name of “Sariayanas” for the said line of buri products was coined for Mrs. Caballes by Mr. Randy Urlanda the Editor of Panorama Magazine who together with Ms. Cynthia Lazo of the DOT CALABARZON Office is a friend of hers from way back the Sariaya Quadri – Centennial Foundation days. With that the Provincial DTI office became very impressed and pleased with their accomplishment. and with that, its Director, Ms. Marcelina Alcantra introduced Mrs. Caballes to designers like Mr. Cesar Pasco and Mr. Rinel Batrallo who are experts in the use of Water Hyacinth and asked them to assist her in the Buri venture. On January 2011, the DTI commissioned these two designers and sponsored a seminar training for the weaving of high end quality buri bags participated in by Quezon towns such as Mauban, Sampaloc, Pagbilao, Tagkawayan and Sariaya, and it proved very helpful to the Kalahi Cooperative of Barangay Gibanga. As such, the cooperative became part of the Bayong Development Program of the Department of Trade and Industry. And with that, everything was all systems go for the grand launching of the newly revitalized buri industry in May 2011, coinciding with the celebration of Sariaya’s most popular attraction, the forthcoming “Agawan Festival” in honor of the Spanish Patron Saint of farmers San Isidro Labrador.
For the “Agawan Festival 2011”, the grand Buri launching activities started on the afternoon of May 12th with the arrival of the production crew of ABS CBN’s early morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda”. They facilitated the extravaganza style preparations necessary for the May 13th early coverage by one of its leading hosts Ms. Winnie Cordero, wherein aside from all the fanfare, a display booth was reserved for the Kalahi Multi Purpose Cooperative of Barangay Gibanga and the Sariayanas high - end quality bags and accessories. Taking that into primary consideration and not leaving anything to chance in regard to the need for an even more efficient and faster buri bag production, the four buri bag seamstresses of the Kalahi Multi Purpose Cooperative were sent to Pila, Laguna previously so Mr. Cesar Pasco and Mr. Rinel Batralo can closely supervise them. As such, the high –end buri bags and accessories were given ample exposure and prominence with Ms. Cordero interviewing Ms. Caballes on the details their production. Truly and indeed, it was a grand coming out for the revitalized buri industry of Sariaya which was well received by the locals as well as the visitors alike, judging from the brisk sale and placement of orders at the Sariayanas buri products booth during the Agawan Festival 2011 Agro-Industrial Fair.
With the great media exposure thus received, there was no turning back for the Kalahi Multi – Purpose Cooperative ng Barangay Gibanga,eventually renamed as the “Kalahi Multi – Purpose Cooperative”, and what followed was a spate of trade fair exposures with the assistance of the Quezon Provincial Tourism Office, the provincial office of the Department of Trade and Industry, and even that of Laguna, as well as the Department of Labor and Employment. As such, the cooperative continues to avail of all the trainings and trade fair exposures just as it has been sustained by the conversion of Sariayanas into a corporation which buys all the Kalahi buri products being produced, with Mrs. Caballes serving as the Marketing Director. Moreover, the DTI, the DOLE and the Sariaya LGU are in full support of all their endeavors wherein the DTI provided the machines and the equipments, the DOLE for the financial assistance in the purchase of the materials, and the Sariaya LGU for the continuous trainings and assistance for initial capital not only for Kalahi but also for all the Sariaya women’s groups. Out of the 43 barangay women’s groups in Sariaya, 11 accordingly have already received trainings on buri bag weaving with the others to follow suit.
To further encourage this, the Sariaya LGU provided the starting capital, the buri - cutting equipment such as the “Linasan”, and the raw material for the “Bayong”weaving. They likewise tapped the “Samahan ng mga Magulang na may Anak na may Kapansanan” (SMAK) for it as well. As such, even the men folk who are members of the “Men Opposed to Violence against women and children (MOVE) will assist the Kalahi Multi – Purpose Cooperative in the production of the “Taka” fashioned from corrugated boxes. All of these is in line with the gender issues being raised which are slowly but surely being given due consideration by the Municipal Gender And Development Council (MGADC) of which Mrs. Caballes is actively a full - pledged member. It increasingly addresses the problem of creating jobs for the marginalized sectors of the Sariayahin society.
This good working partnership established in recent years between the Quezon Provincial DTI Office with the “Kalahi Multi – Purpose Cooperative / SARIAYANAS Buri Products since 2010 truly spelled sustainability for the local buri industry hereabouts. The much – needed exposure for further expansion about to be brought by the influx of new prospective partners like the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, which find merit in such community – based and grassroots level - friendly enterprises is indeed forthcoming.
