What is happening in Mindanao now has caused diverse groups in the country thinking about what could be extended to these victims fleeing from the horrors of terrorism. Part of the government’s agenda is to ensure their safety and welfare so that for the time being they could go on with their lives.
Responding to the crisis in Marawi, Cebu Technological University does its part and has come up with a simple yet challenging idea of engaging the communities in Cebu Province through “banig” weaving. Known in English as sleeping “mat,” it is envisioned to at least provide the evacuees comfort as they take a moment of respite. Aware of the precarious living they have, victims have to process the rippling effects of the present danger to their families and the impact of the predicament they face each day to their lives while government forces suppress extremism in the Islamic city.
The University Director for Extension Jorelyn Concepcion, in Tueday’s meeting with eight (8) extension chairpersons across the province (from CTU Daanbantayan [the northern tip] to CTU Moalboal [close to the southern tip]), stressed on the significance of CTU’s unique contribution to the fellow countrymen devastated by the war. She resonated her sentiment by asking the extension council members to gather faculty, students and community volunteers to learn the craft using the waste material (sticker backing of Baygon Katol box) of the International Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (IPI), an established company in Metro Cebu.
CTU Main’s Extension Chair Nemia F. Zamora showed her optimism by negotiating with To-ong residents to join the cause, as they have an existing partnership with the university. They and other interested parties are scheduled to be trained on June 29 at the Main Campus. Faculty volunteers are to be trained on June 23 to aid CTU Argao experts during the simultaneous weaving on the 29th. She echoed Dr. Conception’s idea on giving incentives to those community volunteers who would opt to continue making mats in their homes.
IPI has been active in doing corporate social responsibility in that it has adopted Brgy. Luz in the city aside from providing CTU Argao the important source of its projects that have been going on for years (e.g. wallets, bags and hats all made of the sticker backing).
The extension council of the university is expecting more volunteers to boost the manpower so that a considerable number of mats could be sent to the areas where evacuees are currently accommodated. UPO