CHRISTMAS BAZAAR. It’s a flea market of Christmas decorations and gift ideas at the Island City Mall (ICM) Activity Center as DTI-assisted MSMEs showcase their products for the 3rd Holiday Market and Crafts Fair. Present in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies were BCCI External Vice President Marietta Gasatan, ICM Manager Mario Cirujales, DTI OIC Vierna Teresa Chiu-Ligan, Legal Officer Handel Lagunay, and Atty. Abeleon Damalerio. (PIA Bohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — Are you still looking for a décor to magically transform your living room into a Christmas-themed living space?
Then check out the variety of native Christmas trees, lanterns, raffia angels, maguey Santa Claus, bamboo stars, nito and wicker baskets, Christmas-themed throw pillow cases, novelty items, gift items, holiday food items, and gift ideas of home furnishings and furniture at the Island City Mall, which is open from November 14-18, 2023.
Now on its third year, the Holiday Market and Crafts Fair is the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Alturas Group of Companies’ venue for promoting local products, establishing buyers, and providing an exhibit of everything and anything from Boholano and regional artisans, according to DTI Bohol Officer-in-Charge Vierna Teresa Ligan.
While DTI Bohol is lauded for its longest-running regional Sandugo Trade fairs in July, the need to help local artisans struggling for markets during the pandemic has opened up the idea of an exhibit of products that may help a homemaker embellish their house into a Christmas home.
Offering a wide range of handcrafted selections of products which passed the rigorous DTI product development screening in the lines of holiday gift ideas in high-end furniture, the fair features 45 exhibitors carrying trendy native and ethnic tribal themed “wearables,” beads, decorative home items and furnishings, room accents, novelty items. All creatively made by small entrepreneurs which nurture the rural economy.
“I always look forward to the DTI event, because there is always something new and there is always something to buy,” said Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Yap, adding that she always goes alone to events like this so she can splurge without somebody stopping her.
“Congratulations and thank you for choosing Tagbilaran for the event that celebrates local artisans and the culture which brings in this diverse array of products, and on one hand, promotes sustainability, foster empowerment and spurring local development,” she added.
Capitol Legal Officer Atty. Handel Lagunay said Bohol is making efforts to establish and mainstream a business enabling environment for local micro, small medium enterprises and opening opportunities for marketing in line with the strategic change agenda in developing the local economy.
Blessed with bountiful resources and raw materials for craftsmen to work on, Bohol also keeps a long surviving tradition of weaving, fine carpentry and culinary arts that has become a jump-off point for locals to experiment on new products and innovations. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)
The DTI Holiday Bazaar features handcrafted lanterns from the Bohol District Jail cooperative of persons deprived of liberty. And as a form of skills development for their reintegration into mainstream society once they served their sentences, livelihood training inside the jail allows them to pursue their talents. (PIA Bohol)
