The Green Potential

The Trainor

“I wasn’t very interested. I was hesitant and uncooperative to a point,” laughed Ma. Elena S. Mercado, Trainor and Consultant of Ivory 07 Arts and Crafts Association. It was in 2010 and she attended a training on basic weaving using stalks of water hyacinth. “I thought the quality of the bags we made left much to be desired.”

In 2011, Mercado attended a follow-through of the training that impressed upon its participants a high standard of quality. They made bags and brought their creations to the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), the export promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Their bags were sold out, but they could not deliver the volume that the buyers needed. Her curiosity and interest had grown during this time.

The following year, Mercado, now a Business Development Specialist, requested for a basic training on weaving using water lily through the Rural Micro-enterprise Promotion Program (RuMEPP). The training included 35 participants, all Gender and Development (GAD) Focal Persons from the different barangays of Butuan City, in partnership with the Commission on Population (POPCOM).

The 3-day training involved three levels: bleaching, dyeing and weaving workshops; a pricing and costing with time and motion (productivity) training; and marketing exposures for their slippers during the Araw ng Agusan del Norte, different fiestas and finally, the Mindanao trade Expo (MTE) in Davao City. Mercado found that slippers were more competitive than bags, and, together with the other members, they continued developing their products through different market tests.

The Association’s name, Ivory .07, stemmed from the .07 budget from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) remitted by the barangays to the city for women’s projects, through RuMEPP.

Ivory .07 facilitated trainings and provided starter kits, which included stalks of dried water hyacinths, rubber soles, glue, patterns, a pail, a pair of scissors and dyes to the participants. The kits, if used properly, would give the women an income of P2,000.00 by producing 20 pairs of slippers.

Between 2013 and 2014, enhancement trainings gave the Association the confidence they needed to participate in the National Fashion Fair, where they enjoyed a sale of P30,000.00 in only 5 days. The event also allowed them to meet one of their most memorable clients, who placed two orders of 150 pairs of slippers for her boutique at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Ivory .07’s slippers were launched at the MTE in 2014, and enjoyed a warm reception from buyers. It was also around this time that the Association sent slipper samples to Japan through Manila FAME, a premier trade show for buyers. Unfortunately, the group was not able to make good on the order for 2,800 pairs because of the damage left by typhoon Agaton.

Unfazed, Mercado took a course on footwear given by the Philippine Footwear Federation Inc. (PFFI) in Marikina, Metro Manila, to study foot anatomy and standard sizing. This opportunity allowed her to obtain a shoe made by Otto’s patternmaker, to use in the production of their slippers.

In 2015, Mercado trained different women’s groups in Barangays Village 2 in Libertad, Mahay, Baan and Tiniwisan in Butuan City to share the water hyacinth opportunity and meet both local and regional demands for their slippers.

Today, the Ivory .07 Association is a regular participant to the MTEs and sets up a booth during the yearly Kadayawan Festival. The Association has snagged a contract with Robinsons Place Butuan for 100 pairs of slippers per quarter or 400 pairs per year. Mercado and some members have also participated in the Brunei International Trade & Consumer Exhibition (BITC).

“I always knew she had it in her,” Department of Trade and Industry-Agusan del Norte Provincial Director Gay A. Tidalgo says about Mercado. “I saw how her drive and talent could fuel absorption and enjoyment in trainings. I knew that she would be an effective and successful trainor,” Tidalgo added.

The Trainee

In 2011, Mylene Musico Cutor, a GAD Focal Person for Barangay Holy Redeemer, Butuan City, was invited by POPCOM to attend a workshop on water hyacinth slippers.

With other participants, she trained in the mornings and had a finished product in the afternoons. For three days at seven hours per day, they learned the step-by-step process of creating bags and slippers – from braiding stalks to gluing soles. Upon completion of the workshop, she had five pairs of rubber soles that served as her “assignment.”

The basic training extended to bleaching, dyeing, and learning how to braid both natural and dyed materials. On their third level of their training, they learned price and costing and prepared their creations for assessment by their trainor, Ma. Elena S. Mercado, who they call Ma’am Bing.

In 2012, Cutor, along with her family of six, had been able to produce up to 50 pairs of slippers in just two weeks, which they sold for P75.00 per pair at the Mindanao Trade Expo in Davao. She has since participated in events such as the Adlaw Hong Butuan and other MTEs, selling as many as a hundred pairs of slippers at P100.00 per pair.

Through the Shared Service Facility (SSF) Program of the Department of Trade and Industry-Agusan del Norte, Cutor was awarded two semi-heavy duty sewing machines and a cylindrical sewing machine for leather shoes and bags in October 2013.

This assistance allowed Cutor to make enough slippers to bring to the Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc. Trade Fair, where 180 of 200 pairs were sold at P130.00 per pair. “We had a 20 percent increase in production because of the SSF, and we’re making between 20 to 50 pairs per week, which sold at P150.00 per pair (for women) and P175.00 per pair (for men). With this production strength, we were able to give special prices to bulk buyers at P130.00 and P150.00, respectively,” Cutor shares.

In 2014, she and her family were paying out-of-school youth to harvest water hyacinth stalks from a nearby lagoon at 10 centavos per stalk, which they then sun-dried for a week. The process ensured that the slippers would allow at least a year’s use.

Cutor, now the proud owner of Cutor’s Handicrafts, experiences a better quality of life and earns at least P30,000.00 a month. “I am able to provide more for my family and give them simple pleasures. Before being a member of the Ivory .07 Association, my Barangay Nutrition Scholarship allowed me to earn only P4,000.00 a month. My husband, a carpenter, could only provide so much,” she adds.

Since 2011, Cutor has been featured in at least two media formats: an episode in ABS-CBN Davao’s Magtv Na, Magnegosyo Ta in 2015, and an article in Manila Bulletin in 2016. (DTI-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)