Malaybalay’s Valdez Native Handicraft: but where’s the abaca?

MALAYBALAY CITY  — The local handicraft industry is losing business due to scarce supply of abaca, Bernadette Valdez, onwer of Malaybalay’s renowned Valdez Native Handicraft, said.

Although the demand for the products had been increasing, supply of woven abaca is going down, she said.

Her business, which started as a home-based cottage industry in the late 1980’s, is losing around P100,000 sales a month because of the supply problem, Valdez said.

“I have to turn down some of the orders because I don’t want to commit when I cannot deliver because I know the supply can’t catch up,” she said. The Department of Education in Bukidnon, for instance, ordered around 1,800 conference kits made of abaca but “I only accepted 800 pieces.” Read the rest of the report on MindaNews.com.