Waste material no more

Guinit (or coconut sheets from the ribs and base of coconut leaves) used to be the bane of farmers in Leyte and Samar. These would decay and drop to the ground, to be burned or thrown away.

No longer. The farmers now sell guinit to Mugna Bisayas, which means "made from the Visayas" and is the name of the company put up by Ma. Teresa Sumaylo and her husband, Indoy, in 1996.

"We began the business out of concern for the coconut farmers in our area, who were idle much of the time until harvest time," said Teresa Sumaylo.

Since they were involved in a church-based non-government organization, the Sumaylo couple decided to embark on a livelihood mission that would make functional and useful items from unused parts of the coconut tree such as guinit.

"Before, guinit was used only in the production of slippers. We decided to experiment with hats, which we sold locally," said Sumaylo. Eventually, those hats found their way from Leyte to the markets of Cebu and of Metro Manila. Soon, the company was also making bags and, since the start of this year, functional items and fashion accessories as well as Christmas decors.

Tedious process

Processing guinit is tedious. Upon harvest, it is first cleaned by brushing away dust and insects. It is soaked in soap and water and then sun-dried. Guinit is then bleached in an agent for a whitish end-product or dyed.

"We have to properly orient the farmers on the right age to harvest guinit. It should not be too old and not too immature–similar to the teen-age years in humans," Sumaylo said.

Mugna Bisayas also makes it a point to employ women and the youth, both in the production plant and in the gathering of raw materials.

With orders coming in, the company’s plant is operating on both day and night shifts. To meet demand, the company has jobbed out some of the work.

Export

Last May, Mugna Bisayas participated in the twice-a-year trade fair put together by the Center for International Trade, Exhibitions and Missions. "That was where we got our direct export order," said Sumaylo.

The order was made by a French company. Last week, Mugna Bisayas shipped the first batch equivalent to P10,000 worth of accents and P150,000 worth of plant ariser with colored wires, which the buyer first saw in the Region 8 trade fair.

"We’re happy that we’ve been able to help local farmers discover other ways of augmenting their incomes by harvesting a former waste material from the coconut tree," said Sumaylo. As long as Mugna Bisayas is in business, guinit will always be as good as cash for the farmers of Region 8. – RGdelaCruz