‘Parambos’ to benefit indigenous people’s group

ROXAS CITY, Capiz, Dec. 20 (PIA6) -- Forty – five Panay Bukidnon abaca farmers and their respective families will benefit from a convergence project on abaca loom weaving that officially kicked off with the Signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) last Dec. 12 at Jamindan town hall.

Panay Bukidnon is an indigenous people’s group (IP) that boasts of rich traditions as well as cultures and inhabits Central Panay that covers part of Jamindan and Tapaz towns' hinterlands in the province.

The multi-agency project dubbed “Parambos” is a collaboration among the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Fiber Industry Development Authority (FIDA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Jamindan municipal government.

DOLE – Capiz Labor Employment Officer III William P. Dungog said that the project was conceptualized when Jamindan Public Information Officer and a Panay Bukidnon member Norma Chavez sought DOLE assistance during a meeting of the Capiz Association of Government Public Information Officers, Inc. (CAGPIO) here early this year.

He also thanked the town’s Sangguniang Bayan for a resolution manifesting support to the project.

For her part, FIDA – 6 OIC regional director Evelyn B. Cagasan committed to provide technical assistance to abaca farmers in more than 500-hectare abaca farm sites in the municipality.

FIDA has established an abaca nursery in Brgy. Jaena Norte as a source of planting materials for distribution in adjacent barangays.

It was learned that a licensed abaca trader in Jamindan sells an average of 10 tons of abaca fiber to an Iloilo trader every month.

Jamindan mayor Ethel R. Jinon conveyed her appreciation to concerned government agencies on the “Parambos” project as she stressed that IP members will have an equal share of the various basic social services of the local government unit.

She also hinted if it is possible for the multi-agency collaborators to fund road access going to and from abaca farm sites.

The municipality has chosen abaca as its priority crop for One-Town One-Product (OTOP) program of the national government. (JSC/Alex A. Lumaque-PIA6 Capiz)