Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, October 17, 2021, visited Malaybalay’s Choice Handicraft, a business in Malaybalay, Bukidnon that is supported by the OVP’s Angat Buhay program.
The business, owned by Tita Perla Rubio, produces bags, clothes, placemats, baskets, and other furnishings and accessories, using abaca fibers sourced from the Pulangiyen indigenous community.
Tita Perla is among the business owners supported by Angat Buhay’s various initiatives for women entrepreneurship and empowerment, which provide participants with training, mentoring, and product development with OVP’s partners. In 2018, Tita Perla won 1st place during the Angat Buhay Women’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp’s pitching competition and received an additional capital of P30,000.
Malaybalay’s Choice Handicraft has also become one of OVP’s suppliers for its Christmas tokens, through the office’s community-based procurement. With this order, she was able to establish her credibility in Malaybalay as a government supplier that led to a bigger procurement partnership. During the pandemic, Tita Perla took inspiration from OVP’s locally produced PPE initiative and did the same, providing livelihood for her business’s employees during this difficult time.
During VP Leni’s visit, Tita Perla credited the OVP’s intervention for helping her save up for the construction of a building that now serves as Malaybalay’s Choice Handicraft’s showroom. She also thanked the Vice President and her office for opening more opportunities for her business, with more orders coming in after their products were featured as Christmas tokens.
(Photo by OVP/Jay Ganzon)
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