Getting to know NegOr's only
piña cloth maker by Michelle Eve A. de Guzman
01 April 2008
A
Silliman University Divinity School teacher’s initiative
13 years ago spawned a source of livelihood for 365 people
today.
In 1995, the late Dr. Elena Maquiso first organized a cooperative
called Hiniusang Katawan sa Bantayan (HIKABAN), which specializes
in abaca and piña cloth weaving.
Originally meant to simply teach more locals native weaving
skills, HIKABAN became a business and tourist attraction as
the only piña cloth maker in the province of Negros
Oriental.
Manager Enriquita Alcaide related, “Dr. Maquiso got
donations from friends abroad and had this building in Barangay
Bantayan constructed. Then a French and German who wanted
to help the depressed families in the area gave us funding
from Luxembourg.”
She said that a pilot farm for pineapples was operated for
two years in Barangay Banilad and they bought the technology
from Aklan.
However, Alcaide, who has been with HIKABAN from the start
as a volunteer bookkeeper, added that since the manufacturing
of piña cloth is very intricate, the cooperative board
decided that while they will still produce piña cloth,
they will now focus more on abaca because they profit from
it quicker.
“Kuti man gud kaayo ang piña. Our original
piña workers who were asked to help with abaca
manufacturing when it was in demand didn’t want
to go back anymore,” she said.
While chased by Manila exporters, designers and socialites,
the piña cloth requires 45 people to knot for
every one weaver. For every three meters, which is
the usual requirement for barongs, one would have
to spend almost Php 2,000 for the cloth alone.
Alcaide commented, “Daghan ra gihapon mopalit.
Piña cloth is world-class, it is lig-on (has
heightened tensile strength), and it has an inherent
luster. People all over the world can say that it
is a really unique indigenous fiber.”
“I heard the Japanese tried to mechanize the craft of
piña cloth, but they failed. Maybe it is not meant
for machines. It is for people so they could do it by hand
and earn from it,” she added.
She also said that foreigners like Philippine products because
they are not synthetic, perhaps referring to the extremely
long process that goes with the production of one beautiful
gown made of piña cloth.
It all starts with native red Spanish pineapples planted one
foot apart. After 16 months, the lower 15 leaves are harvested
and pineapple fibers extracted. Broken porcelain is then used
to scrape it clean to obtain the coarse fiber, which is washed
in flowing water, preferably in streams and rivers.
After it is beaten again to loosen the fibers, it is air dried
in the shade. It is then cleaned, knotted, mapped out and
dressed on the loom, before the weaving starts. That only
produces half a meter per day. And this time period does not
include the embroidery.
This is why Alcaide could say with conviction that wearing
piña cloth, during weddings most especially, is a status
symbol. Not everybody can afford it, and one can only imagine
the effort exerted by people in Bantayan and adjacent barangays
just to make it.
To strengthen the piña cloth industry (Alcaide said
there is none yet since they are the only ones producing it
in Negros), HIKABAN plans to enter into a collaborative enterprise
with the municipality of Dauin in the near future.
“This is really a home industry. We get to augment the
income, and sometimes even provide income, for a lot of families
here. We also share the craft of abaca production to Koreans
from the Gandhi Village School who want to experience Philippine
culture,” she said.
No matter how much they have branched out and discovered which
works best for their members, one can truly say that their
small cooperative, which has already been featured in the
Lifestyle Options 2003 National Trade Fair and Ato ni Day!
Aton ni To! Masskara Festival Trade Fair, among others, has
gone a long way.
With the support of the barangay, city and province, and despite
some delays in funding for their materials, it is a given
that HIKABAN and its hardworking members will weather the
years to come.
