In the Palaw’an community, “rurungan” is the term they use to refer to the long house where all the women work in every neighborhood. It is a place where they do household chores together and socialize. “Tubod,” in their local dialect, means “spring.” Generally, “Rurungan sa Tubod,” is described as the place of work for women by the spring of life.
Established in 1999, the initial goal of the foundation was to offer an alternative livelihood program for women who practice the kaingin system. The weaving project came into idea as well as the beginning of the training programs. Another target were the fishing communities- a very important livelihood bearing no stable income due to changing seasons. Weaving became the bearing livelihood when the seas weren’t abundant. That was the whole idea of Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation.
The next step they took was the product development. A lot of weavers were already trained so the council started to explore in different fields. Different craftsmen who had existing skills were hired and although their products were not necessarily perfect for the market that time, these products were remodeled and improved with delicate attention to detail to add more value.
The Sunday Market activity launched every first Sunday of the month came into idea with the consideration that a “face to face” value of having a market and for people engaging in it can really upgrade the product where you can hear directly what the customers want and what they think about the stuff.
The main criterion for the products to be presented is that the raw materials used as well as the products are identified to be made in the Philippines. Focusing the project here in Puerto Princesa, the foundation also wanted to open a spectrum from businesses from other places.
Originally, the initial requirement was not to use plastic materials in the manufacture and production of these products but the vendors themselves, as environment/conscious people, established the rules promoting a more eco-friendly production.
Rosal Lim, one of the people who manage the Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation plans to make a platform for other businesses—-a collective set up where every month the community can drop by and buy vegetables, organic soap, and baskets among many other things.
“It’s really nice for a community to have that especially in Puerto Princesa where there are so many small businesses,” Rosal explained. “To put them together in one place is a good exposure for the small businesses and it would be really convenient for the consumers to come and explore.”
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