RP leads global fiber industry

Abaca fiber, known worldwide as Manila hemp, is obtained from the abaca or musa textilis nee. The plant is indigenous to the Philippines and similar to the banana tree in appearance.
Abaca fiber is considered as the strongest among natural fibers. The length of the fiber varies from three to nine feet or more, depending on the height of the plant and the age of the leafsheath. The color of the fiber ranges from ivory white to light and dark brown.
Abaca is not the only fiber that the Philippines has in abundance. The country also has piña, coconut coir, raffia, silk and many more.
Because of this, the fiber industry has thrived through the years and found its place in the global market.
The Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions highlighted the use of natural fibers at the 50th edition of Manila F.A.M.E. International with the special setting called Fiber and Fiber-based Products.
Among the products on display were fashion accessories (hats, bags, shawls, mufflers, slippers, hand-woven fabrics, barong and gown in mannequins), house wares (hanging and floor lamps, rug, curtain, throw pillow case, home décors, printed sinamay, tapestries) and furniture (accent chairs).
La Herminia, a family-owned fiber company that specializes in clothing and other by-products made from fibers, has been an exhibitor of Manila F.A.M.E. for years.
“The efforts done by Citem in organizing trade fairs, helped us a lot in the development of our fiber products and knowing new markets. My mother, who owns this, always sees to it that we participate in trade fairs like this because it helps us expand our markets,” said Arlyne Tumbokon, marketing manager of La Herminia Piña Weaving Industry, a company based in Kalibo, Aklan.
The company, established in 1996, is owned and managed by the Tumbokon family, headed by Herminia who comes from a family of weavers. Herminia, the company’s owner, taught the art of weaving to her son and daughter-in-law. This is a skill that Herminia learned from her own grandparents.
There are 143, 585 hectares of land in the country that are planted for fiber crops with 30 kinds of useful fiber. The Philippines accounts for 85 percent of the world’s abaca supply. Other fiber crops include ramie, salago, buri, maguey and mulberry and these are grown in Metro Manila, Benguet, Bicol, Aklan, Davao, and South Cotabato.
“The use of natural fibers has been expanding as industrial raw materials for the making of clothing, car accessories, textiles, handmade paper and sheets, converted items, fiber crafts, furniture, upholstery, pulp and specialty paper and cordage,” said Rep. Luis Villafuerte, writer-publisher of the “Abaca” book, when he spoke about the global trends and prospects of abaca at the recent International Conference on Business Opportunities for Natural Fibers as part of the celebration of the United Nation’s declaration of 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibers.
“With advocacy to preserve, develop and promote our weaving traditions and at the same time, provide livelihood at the grassroots level, weaving was never the same in Aklan because others followed and more entrepreneurs joined the industry. Now, it had contributed a lot in the economic stability of the province,” said Ana India Legazpi, one of the speakers furing the conference and owner and designer of the Heritage Arts and Crafts, which employs more than 250 piña weavers in Aklan.
For more information on Philippine fibers , go to www.manilafame.com. Dinna Chan Vasquez