City garments manufacturing enterprise Helping women help themselves

As women, house wives, homemakers and often house-bound feel they do not contribute much to feeding the family even if they cook the food everyone eats, empowering them to be sufficient while getting them new skills worked for the city government. Especially when most work, ground to a halt, due to the pandemic.

It was also during the pandemic when families sought for ways that that income as a dressmaker nearly dripped dry.

As women, work at home was almost full time, and the depression that comes with that, is almost always, contagious among women peers.

While it was the most case, it was not much different for a dressmaker sustaining her family with the home dress shop.

Left with a family to feed on her own as her husband’s workplace stopped, Crispina delos Reyes, of Manga District here had her hands full on the job.

She even has both her feet pedaling, her left hand turning the sewing machine’s balance wheel and her left hand feeding cloth and playing with the pressing bar, all to feed her family and buy her way te ensure her family’s safety from the virus.

All of these, for a few pesos of income, for her family table.

It was also that same time when the City Government of Tagbilaran was also into organizing women and doing a survey on a fitting livelihood support which the city would implement for affected sectors.

“The City Government of Tagbilaran implements this new program called Bangon ug Abante sa Bag-ong Asenso Livelihood, where we surveyed women needing additional income and the survey showed their interest in dressmaking and tailoring, revealed City Livelihood and Community Development Unit (CLCDU) head Adelfa Salutan, during an interview.

Helping women getting empowered, has also been a new shift in the city administration under its first and youngest lady Mayor Jane Yap.

With this, and after a series of validating consultations and workshops, the City Government decided to procure industrial quality heavy duty sewing machines, while the CLCDU organized the women and arranged for the necessary training to establish an ambitious garments manufacturing and production line.

“From their chosen skills training in dressmaking and tailoring, we asked, why don’t we allow the city women to prepare the uniforms, than ordering it from outside and get the hassle of ill-fits and late deliveries?” Salutan remarked.

It may be recalled that the City Government gave free uniforms to public school kindergarten to elementary pupils under former City mayor John Geesnell Yap II.

Under Mayor Jane Yap, the future is even brighter, according to Salutan who formerly works in the environment management sector of the Bohol Environment Management Office.

Mayor Jane Yap in her election campaign promised to double her support over what her husband has given to the women and other sectors in the city, she recalls, self-conscious during the recorded interview.

“Help women,” she told me, Salutan said as she hinted how these women also help each other take up the skills during their training. “This is empowerment at its best.”

Starting off with the huge demand for city public school uniforms, the few women who were jobless during the pandemic sat on the city garments factory to keep up to the task, Salutan said.

And then there were more training, all to keep them hone their skills and bond as a team.

“We did two batches of trainings from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and now we have 50 women who are aptly trained to run the production line in the garments manufacturing, as soon as we launch it,” she said.

While she considered some trained women to find other commitments than in the city enterprise, Salutan believes everything is ready for launch.

Housed now at the second floor of the new City Business Center of the new City Bureau of Fire Protection Office in Dao, the new City Garments manufacturing production line has its equipment in place awaiting for the grand launch.

And while the CLCDU is consolidating its team for the production line, delos Reyes, along with a few seasoned seamstress, are taking side orders, while the newly trained under the mentorship of the skilled, take turns perfecting the craft, using the City equipment.

“With everything running on electric power, it is better here because we can produce fast, unlike in the house where I use manual power,” delos Reyes compares.

While waiting for the operationalization of the garments manufacturing, delos Reyes and a few women have their hands full in completing the thousands of city public school uniforms, as well as many side orders.

“We are happy that immediately after the training, they have their hands full in completing the task at hand, which now includes the official uniform of the city government, shares Salutan.

In fact, apart from the city uniform, and some separate offices ordering their customized uniforms, the women are also accepting outside jobs.

“I have told my former patrons to find me here at the City garments, and they come,” delos Reyes also said.

“From the 50 who joined the training, now many have their on the orders, which are numerous already, Salutan confessed.

For the trained women, they also echoed delos Reyes appreciation.

“We are happy that the City Government helped us cruise through the pandemic, and are now gainfully earning more that we can from out home shops,” they claimed.

“We could actually do more, especially when we can have the production line going as with the specialized work set for every production step, we can be efficient, and could even produce more,” they bared.

On this, Salutan, who oversees the development caps, “We have not been fully operational, and we are already giving out city women the extra income they wished they had to help in the family, this early in fact, we have already succeeded. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)