Mindanao Silk takes centerstageCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Move over Philippine Piña; Mindanao Silk is taking centerstage.
Designers nowadays have found a new fabric for formal wear such as Barong Tagalog or baro’t saya: the Mindanao Silk. Mindanao Silk is made of 100% raw silk from the cocoons of reared silkworms and handwoven by the displaced families within the proposed Laguindingan International Airport in Laguindingan, Misamis Oriental. Benjie Manuel and Dennis Almazan, two of this city’s top fashion designers, say they prefer silk over piña because it is more durable, can easily be bleached and is more elegant. “Silk is a little bit similar to piña cloth. However, it is very durable,” says Almazan. Manuel adds silk is “finer” than piña cloth. It is also reasonably priced. Manuel and eight other top fashion designers in Cagayan de Oro showed off their creations using Mindanao silk in a fashion show at Pryce Plaza Hotel on August 24. Manila’s pride, Dita Sandico-Ong, also joined the show as a guest designer. World-class Benedict Lego, executive director and marketing specialist of Mindanao Silk, says the country can compete internationally with the emergence of this world-class textile. At least 24 weavers, all members of the Ayala Beneficiaries Association Inc. (ABAI), are painstakingly making silk cloth in their respective houses with the assistance of the Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI). The silkworms, Lego says, are being reared and processed into yarn by the farmer-members of the Claveria Agricultural Producers Cooperative in Claveria, Misamis Oriental with funding from the Philippine Australian Community Assistance Program (PACAP) of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). The Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro City Federation of Cooperatives (MCFEDCO) acts as marketing consultant. “In partnership with other private sector and the government, PACAP-AusAID, AFI and MCFEDCO were able to provide Mindanao Silk farmers, processors, weavers, embroiderers, dressmakers, silk painters and the wood, metal and textile industries a lot of jobs and the needed market for their produce,” Lego adds. Mulberry planting Lego says silkworms grow by eating the leaves of mulberry trees. A hectare of full-grown mulberry can feed about 200,000 silkworms in one rearing cycle. It can grow anywhere, even in warm areas. The cuttings of mulberry trees given to the farmers in Claveria were imported from China and Japan. “Mulberry planting is not laborious and is environment-friendly because farmers are not using pesticides. The silkworms would die if they’ll use pesticide. It is also a continuous business, so we could provide more jobs to our Filipino brothers in the farm,” he says. He adds mulberries can be intercropped with peanuts or corn, giving the farmers other sources of income. The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has been teaching the farmers the correct techniques of planting mulberry trees and rearing silkworms. It has a breeding station in Kalingagan, Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, the only one in Visayas and Mindanao. Proper techniques Lego says farmers who venture into mulberry plantation and consequently cocoon rearing should be given the necessary information on proper techniques. The average temperature for cocoon rearing should be between 21 degrees to 30 degrees Centigrade, must be situated about 600 feet above sea level and must be six kilometers away from the coastal area. Lego adds it takes about two days for silkworms to completely develop into cocoons. They are then dried for an hour at 100 degree Centigrade to prevent them from transforming into moths. One cocoon can produce about 1.5 kilometers yarn and about eight to nine cocoons can produce one strand of silk yarn. About 2,500 cocoons are used to produce a one-meter silk cloth. The cocoons that the farmers produce are being sold to the weavers in Laguindingan at P110 per kilofor Class A (bigger cocoon size); P90 per kilo for Class B and P70 per kilo for Class C. Lego says even waste cocoons are bought at P25 per kilo. In the Philippines, the demand for silk is pegged at 200 tons per year. However, Lego says the farmers are only able to produce about six tons a year. “At this time, we are really trying to encourage the farmers to go into cocoon production so we could supply more cocoons to the weavers in Misamis Oriental and also to Luzon and Visayas and consequently supply more silk cloth to our designers,” Lego says. A farmer should have an initial capital of P30,000 for a one-hectare mulberry plantation. This doesn’t include the expenses for the construction of a rearing house. Aside from the farmers in Claveria, others into mulberry plantation and cocoon rearing are farmers in Talisayan, Misamis Oriental; Baungon and Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon; Marawi City and Sumisip, Basilan. Dying industry? Lego says the Philippine government has been trying to revive the silk industry the past 30 years. “The all-out involvement of the private sector proves as one good point in helping the government revive the almost dying silk industry. And it is now a very great opportunity for us Filipinos to go into this,” he says. Lego says they have received lots of inquiries about exporting the product to Paris and Australia “but we’ll have to focus our energy first in saturating the local market. Maybe in 2003, we could already sell to other countries.” Designers and consumers can choose from among Mindanao Silk’s varied product lines -- plain, embroidered, handpainted. MCFEDO plans to introduce more colors, depending on the demands of the market. Among the designers who are currently using Mindanao Silk are Metro Manila’s Patis Tesoro, Pepsi Hererra and Dita Sandico-Ong; Davao City’s Aztec, Boy Ginoo, Bobby Castillo, Juliet Pamintuan and Otoy Mercado; and Cagayan de Oro City’s Ruvil Neri, Benjie Manuel, Mimi Pimentel, Nash Nagangga, Alex Lañojan of Glamour, Fragel Galarrita of Sanina; Sunshine Casiño of Classic Style; Christine Liong of Wardrobe; Mark Yaranon of Carolinas; and Melvin Lachica of Atelier Lachica. Lego says Mindanao Silk can be bought at the shops of this city’s top fashion designers at P500 per meter. Or for ready-to-wear barong, at P4,500 apiece. (Terry D.C. Betonio / MindaNews / Sept. 6, 2002)
Halloween: How it came to beCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- People in frightful costumes and devil masks would surely flock to restobars in town to go with the fad and celebrate Halloween with much gusto. But most often, teenagers prefer to have a party at cemeteries to sort of "accompany" their departed loved ones. Wonder what would they do if they actually see the apparitions of the dead!
The Halloween customs that we observe on October 31 had their beginnings long, long ago. Some say the Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the origin of the present day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what are now named the United Kingdom, Ireland and Northern France. Their new year began on Nov. 1. A festival that began the previous evening honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. The celebration marked the beginning of the season of cold, darkness and decay. On the evening of the festival, the druids -- the teachers and priests of the Celts -- believed that witches, demons and spirits of the dead roamed the earth on the eve of Nov. 1. So they lit bonfires and burned animals, crops and even human beings as sacrifices to drive the bad spirits away. They then told fortunes about the coming year by examining the remains of the animals that had been sacrificed. To protect themselves further from the mean tricks of the bad spirits, the druids offered them good things to eat. They also disguised themselves so that the spirits would think they belonged to their own evil company. Surely, the spirits would not harm the members of their group! Following this, we celebrate Halloween by playing "trick or treat," dress up in scary costumes and wear masks. The Romans conquered the Celts in A.D. 43 and ruled what are now England and Wales for about 400 years. During this period, two Roman autumn festivals were combined with the Celtic festival of Samhain. One of these, called Feralia, was held in late October to honor the dead. The other festival honored Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes. Much later, the Roman Catholic Church set aside the first day of November to honor all the saints who had no special days of their own. Saints were known as the hallowed, or holy, ones. Their special day was known as All Saints' Day or All Hallows' Day. The night before Nov. 1 was called All Hallows' Even, which was shortened to Halloween. Halloween became a secular observance and many customs and traditions developed. In Scotland, young people assembled for games to know which of them would marry during the year and in what order the marriages would occur. Many Halloween customs have become games played by children. In Ireland, people would beg for food in a parade to honor Muck Olla, a god. In Wales, every person would mark a stone and put it into a bonfire. The people believed that if a person's stone is missing the next morning, he or she would die within a year. In England, Halloween was sometimes called Nutcrack Night, or Crab Apple Night, or Apple and Candle Night. Families sat by the fire and told stories while they eat apples and nuts. In the Philippines, people attend parties wearing costumes and masks portraying scary characters. But whatever way the people celebrate Halloween, the essence of observing it and going along with the rest of the world matters most. (Terry C. Betonio / MindaNews / Oct. 30, 2002) |
|