MUNICIPIO Inabanga Thursday staged a gala raffia fashion show at the Island City Mall in Dao District, Tagbilaran City. The show formed part of the celebration of July as Sandugo month that climaxes with a parade and street-dancing today around the city's main thoroughfares. “The Fashion Fusion aims to grab enough momentum to promote raffia as a world-class woven fabric,” said Inabanga Mayor Jose Jono Jumamoy during the show's opening. Team Inabanga's top man said the show was designed to generate attention for buyers to appreciate better the woven raffia that in effect will improve employment opportunities for Inabanganons.

Inabanga is home to some 1,910 direct raffia weavers in 80% of its barangays and 5,000 support workers whose lives have been intricately woven into the industry. From saguran to dry palay on, the lowly raffia endemic to this land of Francisco Dagohoy is getting international exposure as it bid an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's longest continuous hand-woven raffia fabric. Raffia is the fiber stripped and dried from selected shoots of the buri palm. Weavers bleach the fiber to create lighter shades of its naturally light brownish-yellow color, or dye them and create different combinations and patterns of the fabric or roll that would be the material for dresses or barong, and even wedding gowns – to accessories like bags, wallets, hats and belts, and gift items like fancy boxes to put bric-a-bracs in.

Trade and Industry Region 7 Director Asteria Caberte said raffia is the model One Town-One Product (OTOP) for Central Visayas. Last years' most promising product at the Sandugo Showcase, the Inabanga handwoven raffia raked in P40M in gross sales and orders making it the fair's top-seller.  The raffia collection also includes placemats, table runners and raffia rolls that decorated the Fashion Fusion stage, draped the models from Tagbilaran and Cebu – or just carried by them. The models showed how raffia can complement swim wear, and strutted in casual attire, barong Tagalog and bridal gowns all made of the fabric.  

Municipio Inabanga, DTI and Island City Mall partnered to put up the show. Taking prominent seats at the show – a side event of the Sandugo Regional Trade Fair was Caberte's DTI family: Provincial Directors Nelia Navarro of Cebu , Fortunato of Negros Oriental, Nimfa Virtucio of Siquijor and Ma. Elena Arbon of Bohol and her staff. With Jumamoy at ringside seats were Vice Mayor Wenceslao Lao, Sangguniang Bayan members, department heads and some Inabangnons who trooped to the city all the way from Inabanga 72 kilometers away. Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Marietta Gasatan, Siquijor Mayor Becky Padaghay, Manila based exporter Carlos Ludan, exhibitors, buyers and the media also witnessed the event. To whet audience curiosity, the organizers showed an audio-visual presentation of the unrolling of the world's longest continuous handwoven raffia fabric, raffia products and wares and how they are made. Launched on May 17 and continuously woven until the morning of June 29, the fabric measured a total of 1,813.5 meters.