I first came to learn about
the banig weavers of Basey, Samar
many moons ago when on a pre-Yolanda morning, I explored the entirety of San
Juanico Bridge on foot. I arrived in Samar with no destination in mind until a
local I encountered pointed me to a fascinating place. “You can go to Basey, it is a small town not far from here. There’s an
old church there and a cave where you will see women weavers making beautiful
banig”, he told me in Tagalog.
"Banig" is a handwoven mat made from dried seagrass leaves and used
primarily for sleeping and sitting in most East Asian countries like the
Philippines. The word “banig”
instantly piqued my interest. It brought back childhood memories in my
grandmother’s house where we used to sleep on one. After learning that the
local who approached me is a habal-habal driver, I immediately hopped on the
back of his motorcycle and rode off to the town of Basey.
the Banig Weavers of Basey
Most of the women weavers of
Basey converge every morning inside Saob Cave—which is located a few meters
away from the side of a highway. ‘We prefer
weaving inside this cave because the cool temperature is conducive in keeping
the tikog grass (the banig’s main raw material) soft and bendable”, a
weaver explained to me in Tagalog. The habal-habal driver asked
one of the weavers how much they earn. The woman answered that they take home
an average of 150 pesos or less every week. My heart sunk.
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| The "Banig" I bought in Basey, Samar |
Little did I know that three
years after typhoon Yolanda stuck the Visayas in 2013, a social enterprise called
Woven PH will be established with aims of ensuring fair benefits to the women
weavers and also to uplift the banig weaving industry of Basey.
Enter Woven PH
Woven PH was founded by John
Francia and Trish Lim in 2016 but the idea for a social enterprise came even
before that. In 2014, the two worked together on an area development study
focusing on Basey, Samar for ABS CBN's Lingkod Kapamilya headed by the late
Gina Lopez. Compelled to do more, Francia immersed himself in the community for
almost a year—taking advantage of the Jesuit Volunteer Program by requesting to
be assigned in Basey.
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| Woven PH and their community partners in Basey |
During that period, Francia
and Lim was able to organize a group of women weavers which they call "community craft associations" as
well as creating product development modules to better market the banig woven
products of Basey.
The long-standing mission of
Woven PH is to continue pouring economic benefits into the local communities of
Basey—through its weaving and embroidery industry and help artisan weavers earn
more. “As a social enterprise, we don’t
just buy and sell; we design for the community. We don’t just provide
employment and market access to weavers; we rig the industry in their favor”
said Woven PH’s statement.
"For
years and years, there has been inequitable distribution in the industry thus
limiting the price of weavers’ creations at a very unfair amount. This
inequality has contributed to the art of weaving becoming a dying craft. With
Woven, we wanted to show them the real value of their craft and at the same
time keeping it alive" Woven Co-Founder and CEO Trish Lim
said.
From earning a measly 600
pesos per month before, the more than 40 banig weavers of Basey organized by
Woven PH, now earns more than double of that amount.
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| Some of the Banig weavers of Basey, Samar |
"Right now, we are trying to raise their earnings to 4,000 to 5,000 a
month as we try to balance it with the market focusing on promotion, product
development and looking for buyers and artists who wants to collaborate. We
also have a project called "Woven on the Move", where we bring
weavers from Basey to Manila and take them to schools to impart their cultural
heritage of weaving to kids" Lim adds.
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| Laptop sleeves made from woven Banig |
Aside from rescuing the
dying art of banig weaving, Woven PH has also come up with a
millennial-friendly banig-woven items. “Bags and wallets were already being sold as souvenirs for tourists. So,
we came up with gadget sleeves first because millennials today are never
without their phones, tablets, or laptops,” Lim said.
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| Woven Lingkat |
In today’s time when the
banig is almost reduced to a nostalgic artifact of the past, it is refreshing
to see the renaissance of banig creation being introduced to the current
generation. Thanks to Woven PH, the banig weavers of Basey Samar—apart from
reaping fair benefits—are also now having the right platform to showcase their
beautiful craft.
