HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
RECEIVED
pate: 94 JUL 2016

TING: _NO 70k,
BY: Z fl g

RECISTRATION UNIT.
BILLS AND INDEX SERVICE

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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE:
Queson City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO. 963

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Handloom weaving is an ancestral practice which existed for centuries and
has continued to gain popularity.

Weaving was originally used, with the aid of a loom to make cloth. And it has
since been applied to the making of matting and braids. Special looms were also
designed for tapestry weaving, and end products of which are very expensive items.

With patience and skill, exquisite fabrics could be spun and woven through
handloom equipment, using natural fibers. With the availability of threads and yams
from synthetic fibers, looms have also been used with synthetic fiber materials, with
remarkable success.

Because handloom weaving has very great economic potential which has
been tested for countless years, its promotion as a livelihood project for our rural folk
must perforce receive continuing government encouragement.

Hand loomed products have also become works of art to the extent that they
reflect traditional cultural pattems and native ingenuity. Some outputs of hand
loomed artistry have even become collectors’ items.

In many parts of the country, handloom weaving is very prevalent, although
they remain crude. With proper govemment assistance through the establishment of
handioom weaving training centers, the art and trade of handioom weaving could be
made more efficient through the introduction of new methods and techniques. Our
country could also learn from the practices of other countries in the Asia-Pacific


Region and from Europe. in North America, the art of handloom weaving is
reportedly being revived.

The market of hand loomed products continues to expand and grow as
interest is renewed on indigenous pattems as well as more modem ones.

‘As an economic undertaking and art medium, handloom weaving could
spread. Productivity could, however, be improved only through sustained training
Programs, where more efficient and practical methods in the use of materials,
designs and weaving techniques are applied. While we may have evolved our own
native approaches to weaving, we certainly could upgrade our skills from studying
the experiences of other countries and this could be done if we establish appropriate
training centers in various parts of the country, where weaving is already part of the
inherent inclinations of people as evidenced by the existence of weaving as a
business and trade.

This bill seeks therefore to create, with national government assistance, a
Handioom Weaving Training Center in the Municipality of Minalabac, Province of
Camarines Sur.

Early approval of this bill, which hopes to stimulate livelihood activities as an
element of our economic recovery program, is most eamestly urged.

‘

LUIS IMUND F. VJLLAFUERTE JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queson City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO. 963

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A HANDLOOM WEAVING TRAINING CENTER FOR
NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC FIBERS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF MINALABAC,
PROVINCE OF CAMARINES SUR, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. There shall be established in the Municipality of Minalabac,
Province of Camarines Sur, a Handloom Weaving Training Center.

SECTION 2. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA), in consultation with the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI), is
hereby authorized to construct the facilities of the Center, to acquire and install the
necessary equipments or paraphernalia and to take such steps as may be necessary
to implement the intents and purposes of this Act.

The weaving capability of the Center shall be upgraded from time to time to
enable the trainees to avail of the emerging new techniques and methods for
weaving through handlooms, and if warranted by the shifting demands in the
marketplace, to avail of the small and medium scale semi-automatic weaving
machinery appropriate thereto.

SECTION 3. The amount of Two Million (P2,000,000.00) Pesos is hereby
authorized to be appropriated for the implementation of this Act, chargeable to the
annual appropriations of the TESDA, or from such other funds as this Authority could
provide from other sources available to it. Thereafter, such sums as may be


necessary for the operation, upkeep and maintenance of the Handloom Weaving
Training Center shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act as part of
the budget of the TESDA.

Counterpart funding may also be sought from the Provincial Government of
Camarines Sur under such memorandum agreement as may be entered into in
connection with the operation and management of the Handloom Weaving Training
Center.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take immediate effect upon its approval.

Approved,