World Bank says to help PH attain sustainable growth

The World Bank has committed to assist the Philippines in its goals to attain sustainable growth and continued pandemic recovery, an executive from the international financial institution said.

The Presidential Communications Office said Anna Bjerde, World Bank’s managing director for operations, made the state- ment during her meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s Cabinet members on Tuesday.

Bjerde said the Philippine economy has been “growing rapidly” since last year, citing the drop in COVID-19 infections and the reopening of the economy.

“The post-pandemic recovery is underway in the Philippines, with strong domestic demand weather- ing global headwinds,” Malacañang said in a press release.

“The World Bank is committed to supporting the Philippines achieve long-term inclusive and sustainable growth, attain upper middle-income country status, and eventually become a predominantly middle-class society by 2040,” Bjerde was quoted as saying.

Sports Editor

It is native to the Philippines and it’s called “Manila hemp”. That’s actually a misnomer as it is not grown in Manila but in some distant places like Davao. Although it looks like a banana, it’s not a banana.

We are talking here of abaca, known in the science world as Musa textiles. As it is endemic to the country, most indigenous peoples are familiar with this premier natural fiber.

Salinta Monon, the late Tagabawa-Bagobo textile weaver from barangay Upper Bitaug of Bansalan, Davao del Sur comes to mind. She had fully demonstrated the creative and expressive aspects of the Bagobo abaca ikat-weaving called inabal.

In 1998, she was named Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCAA) for continuing what she loved doing “at a time when such craft was threatened with extinction.”

When coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hit the country, Nestor A. Latiban started making handicraft products using fibers of abaca. Among those that this member of Boston-Mandaya Tribal Council Association (BMTCA) has fashioned include hand bags, backpacks, slippers, tum-

HENRYLITO D. TACIO THINK ON THESE!

bler holders and accessories.

A criminology student, Latiban has been a self-supporting student since his early years. The income from the abaca products, he admitted, helped him financially thrive, particularly during the time of pandemic.

Now, I have learned that Japanese firms are looking for abaca supply here in Davao City. This was reported by our roving reporter, Maya Padillo, recently.

Source of her information was Christian Cambaya, the unit head of Investor Assistance and Servicing of the Davao City Investment Promotion Center.

During a press briefing held at Abreeza Mall, he said that some Japanese companies are looking for abaca as it is “being used in Japan as a material to make fiberglass for high-end motorcycles.”

Although abaca is indigenous to the Philippines, it is now grown in Borneo, Indonesia and Central America, particularly Costa Rica and Ecuador.

Globally, however, the Philippines is the number one supplier of abaca. “An important edge that the Philippine abaca fiber has over those produced by countries like Costa Rica and Ecuador is that it has several different

Looking For Abaca

grades,” Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) reports.

The Philippines has nine grades/classifications of abaca fiber compared to only five of Ecuador, making Philippine abaca more versatile in applications. It also possesses the full spectrum of the quality of abaca that specialty paper manufacturers need.

Almost all abaca produced in the country is exported mainly to Europe, Japan, and the United States. Exports are increasingly in the form of pulp rather than raw fiber, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“The very durable nature of abaca is not the only quality of this natural fiber that makes it in demand in the market,” said a report. “Its biodegradable nature makes manufacturers, especially those in Europe, to use abaca over synthetic fibers.

“Coffee cups and tea bags are among the products that make use of abaca. These food containers highlight abaca fiber’s sanitary nature,” the report added.

“Many European institutions had already adopted a policy of turning away from non-biodegradables like plastics.”

ANTONIO V. FIGUEROA FAST BACKWARD

In the annals of Davao history, there were only a few times when the President of the re-public slated a three-day visit in one province. Even at this time when air travel is made faster by the introduction of commercial planes, presidential trips to the city (except those made by President Rodrigo Duterte under his watch), remain far and between.

President Ramon Magsaysay, though, was different. Despite his schedule being tightly crammed, he made sure he met as many people and listened to as many issues, making use of time efficiently and acting on problems without delay. In September 1954, he made just that.

In spite of a slight fever the previous day, Magsaysay, elected 11 months earlier, flew to Davao on September 19-21 accompanied by some Cabinet members and news- men aboard three Air Force planes. He arrived late by over an hour because they had to avoid a typhoon. At the Sasa airport, he was welcomed by Davao governor Alejandro Almendras, congress-man Ismael Veloso, and Davao City mayor Carmelo Porras, calling the reception honors ‘un-precedented.’

After taking breakfast at the residence of Paciano Bangoy, then Malacanang technical as-sistant, Magsaysay spoke at the parent-teacher association’s meeting and warned the public of corrupt people which he branded as “traitors to the country and the Administration.”

In the same vein, he called on the public to support the removal of dishonest officials and to testify against them. Reverberating an old trick corrupt public servants employed, he cau-tioned his audience of individuals who were

Under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economic community, authors G.F. Lapiña and E.T. Andal wrote about the competitiveness of abaca in their collaborative paper:

“Abaca production in the Philippines was competitive under export trade and import substitution scenarios. Exporting abaca is an excellent opportunity for the country to earn foreign exchange since the Philippines can compete globally.”

Abaca is one of the country’s 35 fiber crops. The fiber is superior over all other fibers of its class because of its great strength and its resistance to the action of water. Considered the strongest of natural fibers, it is three times stronger than cotton.

In the past, abaca was the cordage of choice for ropes used in oil dredging or exploration, navies and merchant shipping.

Abaca has been grown in the Philippines for centuries, even before the Spaniards came.

“When Ferdinand Magellan and his companions arrived in Cebu in 1521,” wrote PhilFIDA of abaca’s history, “they noticed that the natives were wearing clothes made from the fiber of the abaca plant, noting further that the weaving of the fiber was already widespread in the island.”

However, it was not until 1685 that abaca was known in the Western world. Then, in 1820, John White, an American naval officer, brought a few abaca fibers for testing to the United States. It proved to have superior tensile strength over any other known cordage, especially under sea water.

“The Japanese also took keen interest in abaca for naval use,” wrote Ernee Lawagan in an article which appeared in the defunct Mod. “They improved the method of production introduced by the Americans and put the abaca industry in the Philippines to a higher level of efficiency.”

It was in the 1920s when the Philippines monopolized the world production of abaca fibers. “During those times, wars were won by countries with superior navies and considering that cordage was vital to naval operation, the Philippine monopoly in abaca production alarmed the Americans,” Lawagan reported.

After World War II, Furukawa Yoshizo, one of the prewar abaca plantation owners in Davao, started field-testing and successfully cultivating abaca in Ecuador. Costa Rica followed suit.

MAGSAYSAY IN DAVAO (1)

using his name to secure favors from the gov-ernment.

From there, the president attended the joint seminars of the leagues of municipal councils and barrio councils of Davao as a guest speaker before he motored to Digos City where he inaugurated a hydroelectric plant. Without hesitancy, he criticized the plant operator for the excessive charges it was asking from customers. He also made brief but unscheduled speeches in Sta. Cruz town.

A Cabinet meeting was slated in Digos City by the President but this was canceled after only four secretaries, namely, finance secretary Jaime Hernandez, public works secretary Florencio Moreno, press secretary J. V. Cruz, and budget commissioner Dominador Aytona, showed up.

Later, in Daliao, Toril district, Magsaysay led the cornerstone laying of ramie degumming, spinning, and textile mill to be operated by the National Development Company as a way of addressing the country’s P180-million annual importation of textiles. During his speech, he lambasted his predecessor for spending dollars on useless projects without even setting up industries that would make use of local resources.

In the evening, he addressed a public rally at Quezon Park, in Davao City, where he told the people that the national government has so far given a total of P40 million in aid to Da-vao under his watch, adding that he is devoting his administration’s efforts to further uplift the condition of the people in rural areas by building up the barrios as the foundation for a strong nation.

In particular, he discussed the issue of the serious squatting problem in Davao Province and pledged to resolve it fairly based on human sympathy. He added that those who malevo-lently settled on lands they knew were owned by other people would be expelled immediate-ly.

For those occupying private lands with the mistaken belief that these were public proper-ty and had been cultivating the lands for crops and plants, they would be given an oppor-tunity to own their lots through government expropriation.

He also lambasted dishonest Bureau of Lands employees who certified private lands as public lands in exchange for money, saying: “Persons sincerely trying to make an honest liv-ing should be helped, not punished.”

Later, he attended a reception and ball in his honor held at the Boy Scouts auditorium.

Excites fans by letting them vote for favorite candidates on BingoPlus website

BingoPlus again reiterated its mission to support initiatives and undertakings that showcase Pinoy culture, Pinoy leisure activities and the Pinoy spirit by throwing its support behind the 59th Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant set to take place May 28, 2023 at the New Frontier Theater.

The first live-streaming bingo in the Philippines is the presenter of the beauty-and-brains tilt and has added excitement to the contest by getting fans and