Thursday, July 2, 2009

WITH THESE HANDS



FE BAGUIWA PADUYAO AND HER WEAVING PASSION

BY Wilhelmina S. Orozco


FE BAGUIWA PADUYAO AND HER WEAVING PASSION

BY Wilhelmina S. Orozco

The mantra to solve recession nowadays is “Go Negosyo or get into business.” Thus many trade fairs and exhibits are being conducted to provide markets for products, but not all could be said to be ethically-run. Fe Baguiwa Paduyao, farmwoman from Ifugao turned entrepreneur had to contend with festival organizers who did not fulfill their obligations, those persons who went into get-rich-quick schemes.

“Minsan nagpunta kami sa Brent School (sa Baguio). Duon nakatinda ako. Pero yung ibang mga festival ayoko. Lolokohin ka. Pagdating mo run, wala kang puwesto. Yung mga kasamahan kong vendors, (ang nagkuwento,) she narrated. (One time, we went to Brent School in Baguio. There I was able to make a good sale. But in other festivals, I don’t like anymore. They fool you. When you arrive at the site, you won’t have any space to sell. One time, my Ifugao townmates told me they had paid in advance for a space to put up their wares but when they arrived at the exhibit venue, no space was available.)

Another time, Fe narrated that her townmates also tried Pinagbenga (Festival of Flowers in Baguio City). “O yung sa Pinagbenga. Nagdown (ang mga kasamahan ko.) Pagdating nila run, wala na yung tao..) Wala silang puwesto, ” she woefully narrated. (There at Pinagbenga, my friends gave a downpayment to sell their stuff. But when they arrived, the person in charge was no longer there and the space for the stall was nowhere to be found.)

“Kaya naawa ako (sa) mga kasamahan kong vendors, kasamahan ko sila sa tiangge-tiangge at yung may cooperative. Luging-lugi sila. Kaya ayaw ko na yung ganun, ” Fe sadly reported. (I pity my friend-vendors. They are my companions in selling, some belong to a cooperatives. They really lost a lot. That’s why I don’t like those (exhibits) anymore.)

Handmade, hand-cared for products

Fe’s products include hand-embroidered blouses and dresses made of cotton for women and also some baby dresses. Her business dates back to the 70’s when UP now retired Prof. Rosario De Santos and Artist-Painter Anna Fer started Pinangga and later on helped her continue the business by contributing ideas for design and giving her tips on marketing. The idea for baby dresses cropped and then a foreigner, Odille, Malay, married to a Filipino intellectual, joined her business for two years after which they separated, each continuing the business on their own.

At present, Fe has 30 or more women, mostly homebased and subcontracted to do the sewing and embroidery while in her house, a sewer does the drawing and ironing. “Ako nagbibigay ng lahat ng gamit, tela, sinulid, drawing. Binibigay sa mga nanay, tapos kinokolek ng isang lider, nilalabhan, at pagkatuyo, pinapalantsa. (I supply everything to them, equipment, cloth, thread, drawing (of design). I give these to the mothers, and when finished a leader of the group collects them, and bring them to Fe to be washed, dried, and ironed.)

“Kasi pag embroidery, maraming lapis na marks; hindi papasa ang mga yun kung hindi lalabahan. Yung ordinary soap lang naman, pagkatapos nilalagyan ng softener,” she continued. (With embroidered cloth, left over pencil drawings of the designs will bring down the quality and price of the product. So it is better if these are washed away using ordinary soap and then rinsed with softener.)

Marketing woes
Marketing is a big problem for Fe because she holds business informally and yet the business establishments require her to provide so many papers before she can sell her stuff.

“Last year, nag try ako ng cotton knit, mabili rin. Ininvite din ako ng Kultura na nasa Mall of Asia. Kaya lang wala akong papeles ng city hall. Kasi kung kukuha ako ng papeles, maraming gastos. Kaya maliit ang returns sa manggagawa.

So registered ang business sa DTI na lang, na nire-renew every time it expires,” she said. (Last year, I tried using cotton knit and found it sellable. Then I got invited by a store in Mall of Asia. Unfortunately, I did not have the necessary papers from City Hall. But instead of paying for those permits, I would rather use the money for paying the workers. So I just register with the Department of Trade and Industry, which I renew everytime the papers expire.)

Not much profit can be had from the products. At most Fe would earn only about 30%. Payments to sewers are not fixed. Per embroidered product, if complicated, she pays them from P60 up to P200, but if simple would be only P25. A blouse could cost from P500 to P1,000 depending on the intricacy of the design.

Aside from the sewer, she has to take care of the artist who draws the designs on the cloth, and the finisher who sews the buttonhole and/or the hemlines. Her expenditures include thread, light and water added to the personnel costs, as well as transportation fares in going to Divisoria to buy the supplies. Fe also draws her own honorarium only as the administrator of the business.

Through the years, Fe has gotten the hang of her business setting up the price, budgeting her expenses to make the products sellable in the market and talking to managers of stores. Sometimes though, she wishes she could stop; but the workers do not want her to. It is a rare opportunity for them to be a part of the business as they have to stay home, and yet be able to earn extra income for their families.

Lonely trek to Manila
From far away Tinoc, Ifugao, where she was born, Fe came to Manila with Prof. Rosario, an anthropologist in the seventies. They traveled for almost 12 hours by bus.

Fe is the only girl and second to the eldest among 7 children. Most of her relatives have gone abroad, some to Taiwan, working at factories while her brothers are still in Ifugao, farming. Two other brothers are engaged in Benguet, planting and selling vegetables.

Used to hard work, Fe finished high school by being employed as a home helper at the same time. “Bata pa ako, nag grade 1 hanggang grade 4 ako sa Ifugao. Tapos nagpunta ako ng Kiangan, sa Ifugao pa rin, at nagpatuloy mag-aral hanggang high school. Working student ako. Nakitira ako sa mga tao sa pinagtatrabahuhan kong bahay at pag araw, nag-aaral,” she narrated.

Sometimes she worked in the fields, or washed clothes for a certain religious organization. After her third year in high school she met Prof. Rosario who then invited her to spend her vacation in Manila and work at the same time to earn her tuition fees for the next schoolyear. However, instead of returning, she decided, upon Prof. Rosario’s invitation to just finish schooling in Manila, transferring to Roosevelt Memorial High School in San Juan, Metromanila.

After that, Prof. Rosario enrolled her at the Miriam College adult education class in tailoring and later on in basic dressmaking to acquire skills that would be her stepping stone to financial independence.

Pinangga birthpangs

Upon Fe’s graduation, Prof. Rosario and Anna Fer absorbed her in Pinangga, a shop that specialized in handembroidered clothes and other products located at Cortada in Ermita, Manila. She became the errand girl, buying the supplies from Divisoria as well as the tailor who sewed the T-shirts to be given to the homebased workers for embroidery.

“Hanggang 1974 to 75, nag-boom noon. Kaso natuklasan kami ng malalaking kompanya. Ginaya ang aming produkto tulad ng crochet at embroidery. After some time, nag-close na yung shop sa Cortada. Kulang ang pondo. Tinuloy ko na lang unti-unti,” she narrated with great regret.

The business boomed again but big companies copied their products which then made them lose in the market. Though having meager funds, Fe continued the business and in the 80’s started making cotton blouses.

A lot of outlets are open to Fe’s business. Her products appeal to both local and foreign buyers. However, the marketing terms are not always palatable. At shops at UP Arcade in Diliman, at Intramuros and in Makati, the products are sold on consignment basis.

This is a big headache for her because her capital does not move as fast as she would want them to. Thus, she wishes everyday would be like the American women’s bazaar at Roxas Boulevard where she easily makes good sales. An American woman approached her one time at an exhibit, “You want to join?” she was asked and after that, she has been a regular exhibitor at that place.

Through the years, Fe has been a single parent and now also a grandmother. She has grown used to being partner-less, knowing the great difficulties of keeping a husband and supporting a family at the same time.

Sometimes though she reminisces on those more profitable times and wishes they would return. She recalled going to Batangas, the land of Ate Vi, as she referred to her. “Kumita ako.” Another time was in Tarlac, “kina Cory” wherein a group of women invited her. “Maganda, provided pa yung tulugan namin for 2 nights,” she described her experience. (It was good; they even provided for our resting place for two nights.)

The bane of business is when the mothers do not speed up their work and deliver on time. Fe is not able to keep up with the orders at the malls, despite the fact that she has one embroiderer from Cainta who is working full time. “Kasi hindi lang yun ang gawa nila. Magpapakain muna,” she explained. (Embroidering is not their sole work; they still have to take care of the gastronomic needs of their family first.)

Intricacies of the trade

Despite the hardships, Fe sticks to hand-made embroidery as her customers appreciate their uniqueness, are discerning of what is handmade and machine-made, and always preferring the former. Besides, she said it is difficult to work with a machine if a piece requires several colors of thread.

“Gusto ng mga buyer maraming burda, kaya bihira yung mga kokonti; so binibigay ko talaga at sa mababang halaga,” she said. (More buyers prefer plenty of embroidery; so I really give it to them and at a low price.)

Even the tastes of her customers are embedded in Fe’s system. “Mga high end ang bumibili. Pag summer gusto ng mga tao sleeveless. Bihira yung may gusto ng ¾. Pag December naman, hanap nila yung long sleeved, mga Kaftan. Pero hanap rin nila, may kolar, o walang kolar.” (Products are for high end. In summer, customers prefer sleeveless, rarely with ¾. In December, they look for the sleeved blouses or Kaftan dresses. They are also selective of blouses that have collar or no collar.)

The network of Fe’s sewers is rather extensive, with leaders from Cainta, Novaliches, and Caloocan getting from and delivering orders to her. This eases up a lot of her work, making her concentrate on marketing and other minor tasks.

Fe wishes she could feel inspired to continue the business no matter how great the difficulties are now – like low production, marketing on consignment basis which saps up her capital and profit. The greatest dent in her business is the lack of time to even take a vacation. One time she still cannot manage to pay up a loan from an international women’s fund due to her low sales and the unpredictability of the market.

“Sabi ng mga kababaihan, ‘Ito si Pinangga, ang yaman-yaman na nito.’ Pero hindi nila alam, na kaunti lang. isang kahig, isang tuka ang kita ko. Pagkolek, mo, maraming bayarin. Kailangang mamili na naman ng supplies. Kasi kailangang magtinda ka na naman,” she said with sadness. “Pero wala ka naming mapagtindahan araw-araw.”
(Women would say, ‘Pinangga is very rich already.’ They don’t know that it earns only a little, a scratch and a peck. After getting the payment, out goes the funds again for purchase of supplies so you can keep on selling. )

Weak body, high spirits


Fe now is also facing health problems like diabetes, fading eyesight and physical weakness from having to take care of administrative duties like going to Divisoria to buy the supplies, taxiing the products and then attending bazaars where she has to sales talk her customers into buying her products.

Her advice to anyone entering the business: “Kailangan dito, may kaalaman ka at tiyaga.” (You must have knowledge and perseverance.)

Perhaps another advice should be given to trade and industry officials for them to provide regular outlets with ethical practices for her products and not just let her float in the laissez-faire economy.

Every product of Fe goes through the soft touch of her women workers, which actually gives reality to the name of their business, Pinangga, a Visayan term meaning “minahal” or loved. So as customers wear the clothes, they feel much loved and cared for.
Pinangga can be reached at tel. no. 7248284 or Cellfone: 09294507729

1 comment:

  1. She's the most loving, hardworking, and patient woman I've ever known. She gives importance to her workers first more then herself. She's always there to give a helping hand. That's why we love her most! We love you aling fe!!!

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