The celebration of the 9th Abaca Festival this week comes with a damper: abaca fiber production in the island has declined by 20 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
Of course, the calamity-weary islanders know the exact cause of the drop in production: the heavy damage exacted by super typhoon Pepito in November 2024, just when the annual production of the strongest natural fiber had rebounded from the losses arising from 2020 howler Rolly.
According to the provincial office of the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA), an estimated 32 to 34 percent of expected fiber harvest this year is deemed lost due to Pepito, with the local abaca industry to take as long as one-and-a-half years to recover.
At the national level, the damage sustained by Catanduanes, as the biggest abaca-producing province in the country, has yet to register its full impact total production.
Already, PhilFIDA has disclosed that abaca fiber production dropped to only 43,000 metric tons in 2024, down by 4 percent rom 2023.
Executive Director Arnold Atienza says the agency’s focus this year is to halt the downward trend by improving market linkages between farmers and industries, such as the furniture sector, which has a high demand for abaca.
To ensure long-term sustainability, the agency seeks to foster local demand for abaca, alongside exports, by urging businesses to “adopt” abaca farms to secure a steady raw material supply while providing farmers with higher incomes and better access to equipment.
It is also hoping that the government would aggressively promote compliance with the Philippine Tropical Fabrics (PTF) Law which mandates the use of locally produced fabrics for government uniforms.
The problem with pursuing this avenue is the abaca fabric or cloth that could be used in government uniforms is not available in local stores, despite Catanduanes being the abaca capital of the country.
True, there is one entity making abaca pinukpok in Baras but it is beholden to a Manila-based fashion designer. The Tribune tried to request an interview with the manager years ago but was refused, as it needed permission from the designer.
In Bicol, there is only one group of abaca weavers in Malilipot, Albay that is now a thriving business driven by tourism.
A search on the Internet turns up traditional abaca cloth weaving in abaca-producing provinces in Visayas and Mindanao producing woven cloth like tinalak and inabal.
For decades now, the province has been trying to expand its limited abaca processing industry beyond slippers, paper and rugs.
Perhaps, someone or the government itself should finance the establishment of a weaving center that would not only provide training on weaving and livelihood to the wives of abaca farmers but also encourage mechanization and drive local consumption.
The weaving project could be part of a display hub where innovative products using abaca fiber and even abaca waste can be explored and exhibited.
It may be recalled that this was among the projects included in the Catanduanes State University’s KIST Park and Agro-Industrial Economic Zone initiated by former President Patrick Alain Azanza before he left office to run for governor.
About a decade ago, the province and PhilFIDA explored the possibility of having outside investors establish an abaca pulp processing plant but the idea was soon dismissed as issues of high cost of power, huge water requirement, possible pollution from waste, considerable investment cost and the fact that one would need to import fiber to maintain high-quality pulp dawned on proponents.
Perhaps, by next year, the incoming Capitol leaders would be able to come up with a workable program to encourage new, innovative products that could be marketed here and abroad.
For, if festival organizers continue to focus on abaca stripping and twine making contests, local farmers would remain mere suppliers of raw materials, content with delivering fiber to local traders in payment of their debts.
They should be encouraged and assisted in becoming manufacturers of finished products using fine, more expensive fiber from their own plantations.
When this becomes reality, abaca farmers would be really proud of themselves and duly recompensed for their hard work.