Nanay Dato (left) making a twined bag while Tatay Juan (right) makes a twined wallet.
On April 2017, the Gender and Development office of Muntinlupa City conducted the livelihood skills training in handcrafted twine making (bags and wallet). The City Links coordinated with Poblacion Livelihood for the conduct of training during one of the Family Development Session (FDS). Among these members, 13 attended the training on twine making.
One of the trainees was Rosario Dato, a Set 6A Pantawid Pamilya member who was registered as part of the program on November 2012. She was also elected as a Parent Leader who voluntary served from 2014 to 2017. Nanay Dato, as she is fondly called, started making bags, wallets, and other products made of twine after the training.
Nanay Dato earned approximately P35.00-P50.00 for each wallet and P500-P900.00 depending on the type and design of each bags. In order to make 10-20 wallets or one to two bags (depending on the size), twine straw which costs around P 50.00-P70.00 and the twine hook priced at P50.00 were required.
Her husband, Juan, also helped her in making the products. On several occasions, he was the one designing the bags and wallets. In a span of one year, they earned P10, 000 from making twine products and with a starting capital of only P500.00.
As of today, approximately 1,400 Pantawid Pamilya members have learned twine making through the Family Development Session in Barangay Poblacion. Thirty members were trained so far and they serve as Resource Persons for training other Pantawid beneficiaries and most of them sell their own products for additional income.
With the help of the Gender and Development Office and Barangay Livelihood Program, the Twine Making Training is implemented also in other barangays including Sucat and Tunasan with 276 Pantawid Pamilya members. The trainers will also be tapped as Resource Persons in teaching twine making to MCCT members and other parent groups in different barangays in Muntinlupa City.
The Muntinlupa team envisions the city will become the Twine Making Capital of the National Capital Region with Pantawid Pamilya members as the main shareholders. They also see the Dato Family as one of the members that will become a role model to other beneficiaries.
Pantawid Pamilya members learning the basics in handcrafted twine making.