Thanks to the support of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the city government of San Pedro City, Laguna under Mayor Art Mercado is now pushing for inclusive and sustainable livelihood in the city.
Recently, the DTI - Laguna Provincial Office through Negosyo Center San Pedro City, attended the Lunsod Lunsad "Retaso: Piece of a Dream" Awarding Ceremony held at the San Pedro City Hall.
Mayor Mercado led the turnover of 25 sewing machines to all the winners of the recently concluded San Pedro Lunsod Lunsad Showcase of Different Creative Industries dubbed as “Retaso: Piece of a Dream” Fashion Show that was held last December 28, 2024 at Robinsons Galleria South Mall.
Aside from the sewing machines, the winners received cash prizes ranging from to P30,000 to P50,000, while other participants also received P2,000.
The “Lunsod Lunsad” Project is an initiative of DTI that seeks to harness the potential of creative sectors to spur socio-economic growth in local communities by giving funding and technical support to specific projects.
To recall, three LGUs in Laguna province – the cities of San Pedro, Biñan and Calamba – were among the 63 LGUs in the Philippines who were granted funds under the program.
Supporting local dressers
"Retaso: Piece of a Dream" is a livelihood project aimed at recycling textile scraps into fashionable new clothes and items, thereby promoting sustainable practices within the fashion industry, reducing textile waste, and creating business opportunities of San Pedro City's local artisans.
“Ang tinarget po natin sa programang ito ay mga mananahi, designers at dressmakers dito sa San Pedro,” San Pedro City Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) head Elsa Santos told OpinYon Laguna.
In an interview with OpinYon Laguna, Santos shared that the “Retaso: Piece of a Dream” project was one of the two projects the city government proposed to the DTI for the “Lunsod Lunsad” program.
“Yung isa pong programa is yung ‘Youth Mind in Motion,’ kung saan kasama po yung painting and photography, para po sa ating mga kabataan,” she explained.
“Dumaan po kami sa validation ng national office ng DTI for both projects, and ang napili nga po nila ay yung ‘Retaso: Piece of a Dream.’”
Santos added that initially, the project was supposed to be jumpstarted by October 2024; however, a series of issues regarding the P1.2-million grant (P300,000 of which had to be shouldered by the local government, she shared) delayed the implementation of the project until December.
“Ang nangyari po noong December 28 ay limang designers po ang napili natin na maging beneficiaries, na may sarili na pong team ng mga mananahi. And the challenge for them is to make dresses such as gowns and barong Tagalogs, na lahat po ay gawa sa mga retaso,” the BPLO head recounted.
“Gayong naging stressful po para sa ating tanggapan ang nasabing proyekto, para sa amin po ay satisfying naman po dahil marami po kaming natulungang mga maliliit na mananahi sa ating lungsod,” she added.
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