Success Stories

Jaki Peñalosa (right) with her fashion creations on the InvestFair 2014 stage, which exposed the Philippine fabric, hablon, to North American and European markets.

In November 2015, Yong invited Iloilo’s foremost fashion designer andhablon advocate Jaki Peñalosa to showcase her exceptional works at the PHILIPPINEfest held at the Aberdeen Centre and Symphony Hill in British Columbia.

In June 2016, Peñalosa will tour the cities of Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa for a month to again showcase hablon in a series of shows that Yong and the Philippine Embassy there are organizing.

“This is rare opportunity for us to promote our local fabric that has already become part of our heritage,” says Peñalosa.

In her designs, Peñalosa uses hablon, a uniquely Iloilo fabric that was the chief import of the province during the pre-Hispanic period and in the early days of Spanish colonization.

In fact, Iloilo was once known as the “Textile Center of the Philippines” because it produces huge volumes of hablon, employing most of its women.

Peñalosa has become synonymous to hablon, spearheading a crusade to revive the industry that met its demise with the introduction of more affordable European textile in the Philippines and the shift to sugar production. A scion of the culturally-inclined family in Iloilo, she has broughthablon out of obscurity by bringing it to international catwalks, like the U.S., Norway, and France.

Gender advocates have been pushing for the revival of the hablon industry, which declined as a result of the rise of sugar production, because it offered employment to women.

“Hablon weaving is a women-led trade,” noted the report. “Weaving Progress for the Miag-ao Hablon Industry: Gender-Responsive Value Chain Analysis of Hablon Weavers in Miag-ao, Iloilo.”

“Skilled female labor is widely available in the locality since loom weaving skills are passed on through generations. Girls are usually brought to the production center, and taught by older weavers to do loom weaving,” it added.

The report was produced by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) with fund-assistance from the Global Affairs Canada (formerly Canadian International Development Agency).

Today, hablon products range from barongs, gowns and shawls, to bags, belts, pillow cases, lamp sheets, table runners, placemats, pencil cases, pouches, and similar accessories. They are marketed locally, and can be found in product outlets, boutiques and fashion shops, department stores, showrooms and flea markets or tiangge.

“Made-to-order hablon cloth is preferred by most corporate buyers such as airline companies, schools and government offices for their office uniforms,” the report said. Local customers, on the other hand, are frequent buyers of hablon table cloth and runners, pillows, bags, and pouches with unique designs.

In Miagao where there is a cooperative of hablon weavers, producers can now command higher market prices by they have attracted high-end customers such as local and international fashion designers and boutiques.

When sugar became Iloilo’s chief export in the 1880s after as result of the opening of Iloilo port to world trade, many women became jobless because the weaving industry lost its primary importance. During the early years of American colonization, local leaders have called for the “protection” of hablon by limiting importation of textile although concerns were also raised as to the local fabric’s inferior quality.

Echoing these sentiments, then Iloilo Governor Raymundo Melliza, in a report dated July 5, 1905, called for the abolition of taxes on raw materials used in weaving and promote their cultivation. The PCW report said that the net profit from hablon making for cooperatives is estimated at 35 percent since it only requires labor, materials and minimal overhead, and administrative and marketing costs.

“Usually, a loom weaver can finish three to five meters a day, working for four to five days a week. They are paid at an average of P 45/per meter for weaving and P3 per meter for warping,” it said. “Total cost of hablon cloth is P114.15 per meter, which can be sold commercially at P250 to P350 per meter, depending on the quality of materials used,” it added.