Feature: The tale of two "Susings"

As a young housewife hiding in the hills bordering Aklan and Antique in World War II, Josefina I. Dela Cruz helped her mother-in-law weave clothes for Filipino soldiers fighting the Japanese. Having run out of clothing materials, they had to use “birang,” a cloth produced from abaca fiber.

Little did she know that later in life she would be the first exporter of placemats made from abaca and raffia fiber. After more than 60 years, she is being recognized for her passion and skills for transforming Aklan’s essential raw materials into beautiful items. In the process, she had helped uplift the economic condition of her fellow Aklanons.

A similar fate was awaiting then 14 year-old Susima Dela Cruz who lived on the other side of Aklan province. She grew up helping her mother weave pure pina cloth. Their efforts gave birth to the Dela Cruz House of Pina. Through this homegrown business, she was able to send all her children to the best schools in Manila. And like Josefina, she was able to help in the livelihood of her neighbors in New Buswang, and in other reighboring barangays of Kalibo.

In ceremonies during the National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Week, the two women—both nicknamed “Susing”--were honoured by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Aklan Provincial Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Council (PMSMEDC), through awards "tailor-made" for them (no pun intended).

Now, at 95, Josefina Dela Cruz was conferred the Pioneer Entrepreneur Award for being the first Aklan Exporter of Abaca and Raffia Placemats, while Susima Dela Cruz, 87, was recognized as the first Aklanon Entrepreneur to develop and promote the pure pina loomwoven fabric and for continuously contributing to the development and promotion of the loomweaving industry in the province of Aklan.

In her acceptance speech, Lola Josefina said weaving a “birang” is tedious. She said one has to “beat” the woven and coarse “birang” with a piece of wood to make it thicker and finer, so that soldiers would be comfortable wearing this.

After the war, she went back to teaching. However, she took pity on people in her community greatly devastated by the war, especially the soldiers.

Her chance to help them came when one day she met a woman from Loctugan, Capiz, who had piles of boxes containing slippers.

Asking about the items, she was told the slippers are for export, and if she likes, she could create handicrafts which could be exported too.

She then met a certain Irene Murphy of a social welfare organization in America who, like her, had a soft heart for the Filipinos and assured her of finding a market for her products.

Encouraged, Josefina then made a placemat made of raffia (fiber obtained from buri) and sent this as a sample to Murphy in America.

After sometime, Murphy replied and told her to send a dozen placemats to America.

Meanwhile, Murphy went around New York, Michigan, Florida, Los Angeles and San Francisco showing around samples of the placemat.

“Eventually, from one dozen, I was told to send 30 dozens. The order became bigger, until I have to ask for the help of three women in our community to help me fill the orders. The orders became 500 dozens, and it came to a point when we have to produce 4,000 dozens of placemats,” Josefina Dela Cruz shared to the enthralled audience.

By then, Lola Josefina said she was already a principal in an elementary school in Kalibo. She was then earning P120 a month. But because she could earn five times her salary with a single shipment of her placemats, she decided to retire as principal at the age of 58 to concentrate on her business.

She hired people in the barangays and sourced her materials-- raffia and abaca—locally.

Her business operated from 1958 to 1985, when she had to leave for Canada.

With the award she received (which she referred to as a diploma), Lola Josefina encouraged entrepreneurs in the forum to “put your heart and passion on whatever you do and you will succeed".

For her part, Susima Dela Cruz said that in weaving pure Pina Cloth, all she aspired for was to send all her five children to college.

Now, they are all gainfully employed. Some are working abroad.

Grateful for their humble beginnings, however, some opted to stay in Kalibo to help her sustain their House of Pina.

As a pioneer pina weaver and producer and for inspiring and helping others in sustaining the pina industry in Aklan, Lola Susima was also awarded a couple of years ago as one of Aklan’s Outstanding Aklanons.

Lola Susima is one pillar looked up to in their community – inspiring and helping weavers and others contributing to the industry in Aklan. She also inspired other players, who in their own right, are also reaping the benefits as well as the fame in producing the unique, exquisite, Queen of Fabrics, the loom-woven Pina Cloth. (JSC/VGV-PIA 6 Aklan)

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