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Villar extends support to sarakat weavers in Cagayan

 
The sarakat weavers and their products
By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter

STA. PRAXEDES,CAGAYAN—A wild grown plant locally known as “Sarakat” (Pandanus spp.), which is primarily used in the hand weaving industry in this town caught the attention of the local and  national sectors with Las Piñas Rep. Mark A. Villar gracing this town’s culminating program of the Sarakat festival on May 18.
Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar with Sta. Praxedes Mayor Esterlina Aguinaldo

Touching down at the Sta. Praxedes freeway, the young Mr. Villar represented her mother, Senator Cynthia Villar as the guest of honor and speaker during the street dance parade and competition held in front of the Sta. Praxedes municipal hall.

Knowing the Villars’ advocacy and support for livelihood development and entrepreneurship, Sta. Praxedes Mayor Esterlina Aguinaldo earlier invited Senator Villar to help support the town’s primary product.

Kami ay nakikiisa sa mga programa ni Mayor Aguinaldo lalo na itong One town, One product nila na sarakat. I have seen some of their products and it is really something that we should really promote at dapat suportahan ng national government,” Mr. Villar said in a media interview.

As chair of the committee on trade and industry, Mr. Villar said there is really a need to promote local quality products and boost the welfare of small and medium enterprises as well as consumer welfare for sustainable development.

After the competition, Mr. Villar immediately flew back to Manila to attend the Congressional session.

As a tribute to the long time tradition of Sta. Praxedes as the center of sarakat weaving industry, the municipal government have initiated sarakat festival as an annual activity to boost its one town, one product.

For the municipal government of Sta. Praxedes, the maximum utilization of this wild grown plant that is abundant in the swampy areas of Sta. Praxedes has been eyed as a globally competitive hand woven and earth-friendly product that promotes climate change awareness which can also be an additional livelihood for local residents.

Launched in 2007, the dying Sarakat weaving industry was revived by reorganizing the Sarakat Weavers Association.

To empower its members, various trainings and capacity building were conducted to keep pace with the demands of the highly competitive weaving industry.

The plant is sometimes called ‘screw pines’ due to its spiny leaves that is similar to the leaves of pineapple which arise from steps in cork screw fashion.

At least five of the 40 known pandan species in the country are found in Sta. Praxedes namely: Sarakat, pataga, lingu-lingo, nisi and bodak.


To ensure the sustainable supply of raw materials, the municipality has established at least 10-hectare sarakat plantation while other farmers with idle lands are enjoined to set up their own sarakat plantations in support of the long-term development plan of the local government. 

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