By Leilanie G. Adriano
Staff reporter
STA. PRAXEDES,CAGAYAN—A wild
grown plant locally known as “Sarakat” (Pandanus spp.), which is primarily used
in the hand weaving industry in this town caught the attention of the local
and national sectors with Las Piñas Rep. Mark
A. Villar gracing this town’s culminating program of the Sarakat
festival on May 18.
Touching down at the Sta.
Praxedes freeway, the young Mr. Villar represented her mother, Senator Cynthia
Villar as the guest of honor and speaker during the street dance parade and
competition held in front of the Sta. Praxedes municipal hall.
Knowing the Villars’ advocacy
and support for livelihood development and entrepreneurship, Sta. Praxedes Mayor
Esterlina Aguinaldo earlier invited Senator Villar to help support the town’s
primary product.
“Kami ay nakikiisa sa mga programa ni Mayor Aguinaldo lalo na itong One town, One product nila na sarakat. I have seen some of
their products and it is really something that we should really promote at dapat suportahan ng national government,”
Mr. Villar said in a media interview.
As chair of the committee on
trade and industry, Mr. Villar said there is really a need to promote local
quality products and boost the welfare of small and medium enterprises as well
as consumer welfare for sustainable development.
After the competition, Mr. Villar
immediately flew back to Manila to attend the Congressional session.
As a tribute to the long time
tradition of Sta. Praxedes as the center of sarakat weaving industry, the
municipal government have initiated sarakat festival as an annual activity to
boost its one town, one product.
For the municipal government
of Sta. Praxedes, the maximum utilization of this wild grown plant that is
abundant in the swampy areas of Sta. Praxedes has been eyed as a globally
competitive hand woven and earth-friendly product that promotes climate change
awareness which can also be an additional livelihood for local residents.
Launched in 2007, the dying
Sarakat weaving industry was revived by reorganizing the Sarakat Weavers
Association.
To empower its members,
various trainings and capacity building were conducted to keep pace with the
demands of the highly competitive weaving industry.
The plant is sometimes called
‘screw pines’ due to its spiny leaves that is similar to the leaves of
pineapple which arise from steps in cork screw fashion.
At least five of the 40 known
pandan species in the country are found in Sta. Praxedes namely: Sarakat,
pataga, lingu-lingo, nisi and bodak.
To ensure the sustainable
supply of raw materials, the municipality has established at least 10-hectare
sarakat plantation while other farmers with idle lands are enjoined to set up
their own sarakat plantations in support of the long-term development plan of
the local government.
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