Most of Iloilo and greater Panay Island’s cottage industries have managed to survive the pandemic due to the support of both the public and private sectors.
Concerned, the public servant turned businesswoman connected Leon’s producers and crafters to enterprises in the city, starting with selling farm products before eventually starting to market the town’s handicrafts. As quarantine restrictions started to ease, Capilastique championed Leon’s homegrown merchandise in trade fairs and bazaars in the city, gaining considerable support for their uniquely embellished and hand-painted rattan bags and baskets.
Most of Iloilo and greater Panay Island’s cottage industries and micro, small and medium enterprises have managed to power through the pandemic due to the support of both the public and private sectors. During the Department of Trade and Industry Region VI’s Panublion Heritage Fair held at a mall in Iloilo late November last year, participating MSMEs reached more than P10,000,000 in cash sales and booked orders.
Bautista is joined by Jerome “AJ” Exito, Marguerit “Margs” Malazo, and Ria San Gabriel – all in their late 20s to early 30s and in diverse industries – in founding Panublix, a startup that aims to connect Philippine weavers and garment makers with the mainstream fashion and design market. “We want to protect and develop their enterprises and enable them to compete,” Bautista says. “We’ve heard plenty of anecdotes of these large overseas fashion houses buying from them. But it’s discouraging that despite the patronage they were not seeing much growth because they were being short-changed by the value chain.”
With prospects up, Bautista sees not only a new era for rising sustainable fashion in the Philippines but also a new renaissance for Iloilo’s iconic hablon. The heritage fabric is a one-of-a-kind material characterized by its bold colors and its signature pattern. Its quality is marked by fine materials: cotton, jusi , piña . Interest in hablon has been driven up in the last few years by contemporary designers heavily using it for their designs.
Young Ilonggo designer Jeff Ticao’s is known for putting a chic, modern, and contemporary spin on the traditional Ilonggo patadyong. Ticao is a favorite of reigning Miss Universe Philippines Rabiya Mateo. Photo from Jeff Ticao “We envisioned to repurpose this venue, offer small and medium entrepreneurs a chance to shine,” Lim says. “Bugal Iloilo is an intimate trade fair that highlights curated Ilonggo items you can’t find anywhere else.”
“Most of our partners are small startups so they don’t have physical shops or viable showrooms yet, that’s how the idea was born,” echoed Lim. “For me, the economic aspect of [the trade fair] is secondary. What we mainly want to do here is open doors for these young and brilliant artisans, entrepreneurs and connect them to influential people. We want to give them more traction to showcase what they have to offer.