Imelda dolls, anyone?
Sun.Star, Philippines
FORMER First Lady Imelda R. Marcos is giving out herself. The wife of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos has been made into a doll fashioned out of waste corn husks.
“I personally designed a doll of her replica, wearing the Philippine [baro't saya] terno and sporting her hairdo. I sent her some samples,” said Rue Ramas, president of the Corn Husk Association of the Philippines (Chap) in General Santos City.
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Ramas said Marcos personally called her and was very proud of the “Imelda cornhusk dolls” designed after her.
Marcos was the former boss of Ramas when the latter was provincial manager of the Ministry of Human Settlements.
Falling in love with the “Imelda cornhusk dolls,” Marcos, known for her thousands of shoes collection, ordered 200 pieces which she intends to give to her friends as Christmas gifts, Ramas said.
But the big thing that Marcos, who has lately been designing jewelries from waste materials through her “Waste Recovery Program,” would do to the local cornhusk industry was that she would promote their products, Ramas disclosed.
“I’m very happy [with the response of the former first lady],” Ramas stressed.
The Chap has established a Cornhusk Business Center in General Santos City with the assistance from the Department of Agriculture two years ago seeing the potentials of the industry.
Ramas recalled that she came up with the idea of making various products from cornhusk five years ago as a hobby and as “pa-bida” to teach farmers the art and make money without cash capital.
Cornhusks then were being left in the farms to rot or burned after harvest.
The association has so far trained 25,000 people nationwide, Ramas said.
Ramas, whose group was nominated in last year’s citywide Product Innovator Award, said the potential of cornhusk handicrafts is bright in the local and international markets.
According to her, the corn husks will not only help the handicraft industry but corn farmers as well, with the latter also earning from the waste products by selling them to handicraft makers.
She said that in some parts of the country clean husks from Bt corn sell as high as P20 per sack, while the unclean ones from the traditional counterparts command a price between P10 and P15 per sack.
“Farmers are advised to gather the corn husks and sell them to flower shops in the locality as they can be used as materials for novelty items. Specifically, the husks are transformed into attractive decorations after having painted with vibrant paints. The creative mind and skilful hand can make this material come to life,” Ramas said.
Edith Aguilar, one of those who benefited from the training and based in Banga, South Cotabato, said that cornhusks are better than Pandan leaves when making handicrafts such as bag, slippers, flower vases and Christmas decors.
Cornhusk handicraft products could last up to ten years, Aguilar said.
Ramas conceded they lacked promotion but with Marcos vowing to help, the market may just further become brighter for the industry.