Alazas eyeing to revive Badian’s banig industry

CEBU, Philippines — Following his successful venture in reviving the Hablon industry of Argao, designer Dexter Alazas moves on to ignite the growth potential of the Banig industry in the town of Badian, Cebu.

Alazas who owns the Alazas Atelier, and founded the fashion brand Amano, is now working on initially organizing the Pandan farmers and banig weavers in the three barangays in Badian, to revive the local and stagnating industry back into the market frontier.

"I am still doing the cultural mapping and sustainability assessment, made initial visits to Badian, as well as informal discussions with local government unit," said Alazas in an interview yesterday.

According to Alazas, Badian has been promoting its Banig industry over the years, but only through the elaborate "Banig Festival" every July. But, nothing has been done significantly in terms of product development and market access.

While this is still in the birthing stage, Alazas hopes to include Banig products to his Amano collections, whose product lines are mostly made of Hablon.

A banig is a handwoven mat usually used in East Asia and the Philippines for sleeping and sitting.

With the revival of vintage fashion, what is local is fashionable and elegant, Alazas said it is high time to help the farmers and weavers to uplift their livelihood by providing them the market access, as well as teaching/training them to make products that are in sync with market demand.

Banig can be made not only as pure mat, but also into fashionable purse, wallet, backpack, shoes, yoga mat, and designer home accessory items. Alazas said.

Banig are hand-woven mats usually made from buri, anahaw, or pandan leaves.

Traditionally, these mats are used in sleeping, especially in provinces. Each mat is meticulously woven from strips of leaves.

The banig industry is one of the age old bread-and-butter livelihood sources among residents of Badian, aside from fishing and other agricultural farming and now tourism.

Badian is also the host town of one of the favorite destinations of tourists, the "Kawasan Falls".

Just what he started in Argao, which gained the support of the government and other private organizations, Alazas hopes to replicate this initiative.

"I'm sourcing out support from DOST for the machines that would help them produce the bags," he added.

As a major agricultural site, many families in Badian earn their living from farming. Most of the women on the other hand depend on weaving mats.

This is expected to change in the coming months, as Alazas will lead the introduction of the multiple uses of Banig in order to give decent livelihood opportunities to townsfolk, farmers and weavers.

"I am advocating to promote Made in Cebu products, using our own raw materials, made directly from the hands of farmers," noted Alazas adding that tourists do not only enjoy the sites of a destination like Argao, Badian and Cebu in general but they also bring memories to their homes as well as the products which can only be found here.

"I want Cebu spots not just as a tourist site but a multi-facet destination," Alazas stressed.

According to Alazas, the trend of sustainable fashion is opening doors to communities where traditional industries like the Hablon in Argao, Banig in Badian, and "many more I have in mind."

Launched in 2016, the Hablon promotion is already a success story. Now, Alazas is on to make another one. One-town-at-time.