The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Cebu Provincial Office, in coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu and the municipality of Aloguinsan in southwest Cebu, conducted a livelihood training on bayong or basket weaving and product development with participants from barangays Bojo, Sacsac, Olango, Esperanza and Kantabogon.
Rosalinda Marturillas from the Balaonung Nagkahiusang Igsoon Alang sa Kalambuan (Banika) of barangay Balao, Barili, southwest Cebu presided the training attended by 22 farmers, mostly women, on July 21 and 22 at the Farmhouse Center in Poblacion, Aloguinsan.
Marturillas is accredited by the DTI and has conducted weaving training in the agrarian reform communities in Cebu.
Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer Gersyval Vestal said “This would be a livelihood opportunity for the agrarian reform beneficiaries to augment their income through bayong making.”
Aloguinsan Vice Mayor Cynthia Moreno encouraged the participants to produce bayong and romblon bag products.
The vice mayor said she hoped the training would help potential weavers produce quality products and help create local employment.
Lurli Abaño, senior DTI development specialist, said the training would also upgrade the skills of the present weavers from mat weaving to fashionable bayong designs.
DTI will help provide market linkages for the participants, Abaño said.
The program aims to improve the weaving skills of the participants and maximize their potential to produce quality bayong as their area has an abundant supply of pandan and romblon, the raw materials used in weaving hats, mats and bayong.