 Argao is a town in southern Cebu, Philippines that is known for its rich cultural and culinary heritage Among its major economic activity back then is the Hinablon, or hablon for short, the art of handloom weaving Argaonans believe that this industry dates back to the pre-Hispanic era Sadly, because of the decline in demand for both handwoven fabric and the decreasing number of habloneras Hablon was almost considered a sunset industry We declined the relevance of hablon To the point that I think there was only just one city, not even a barangay, one city in Argao that were left weaving This became the subject of a research study of graduate school students of Cebu Technological University, or CTU, in 2013 The researchers then suggested to create a community extension project out of the results of the study in 2014 We called the tablon to Cebu to revive a dyeing industry We would like to pass on to generations to come CTU's first intervention was to help raise awareness and market tablon products by participating in trade fairs and engaged in with partner agencies and institutions in the country In 2014, a pageant called Dalagang Argaonun was launched in partnership with the local and provincial government wherein they regained recognition and in 2016, CTU received a grant from the department of traded industry in the form of 20 handloom machines located at the shared service facility inside the school's Argao campus These machines were innovated by the school students and teachers to make it more ergonomic for the weavers and to expand the tablon fabric from the original 36-inch maximum width to 60 inches Along with the innovations in the handloom machines came improvements in the weaving designs as the tabloneras went through consistent skills training Nearly 5 million pesos was also raised by CTU from its partner agencies from both the public and private sector to fund their marketing, product development, and capacity-building activities What then was feared to be a dying industry came back to life and the descendants of the original tabloneras chose to continue the beautiful tradition that their ancestors started We have now 20 weavers and that means 20 families Aside from fabric, they were also able to create secondary products made of tablon such as bags, clothes, footwear, accessories, and home furnishings that are also on display at the showroom they built inside the campus To improve the value of their products, they added hand-painting, embroidery, and digital fabrication This in return generated more jobs as they were able to hire more than 50 sewers and project finishers Their products were further polished through the help of famous designers who became their industry partners such as Kay Batikin and Debbie Palau of the Holistic Coalition of the Willing or Holy Cow who taught them how to ensure stricter quality control to widen their products' reach Hablon Cecibu then brought in to include home furnishings such as towels, table napkins, table runners, placemats, pillowcases, and even furniture So my first impression was it has so much potential It was like something that could open doors actually to know so many people and could make livelihood for so many as well I was very proud of Hablon, I added hand-painting, and it was very close to me I was very proud of what Hablon said to me I added more work to your work However, they were not exempted from the wrath of the pandemic Of course, if you have a lot of money, you will be able to buy your products To help bring back the demand for Hablon products CTU passed a Board of Regents resolution to require their institution's graduates to wear a sublime made of Hablon every graduation It provides continuous sustainable livelihood to our rivers and sewers which is important to us Designers Debbie and Kay helped in creating the sublime's design which included an embroidered badlit or the Visayan Baybayin which meant the self for a higher cost The sublime is a manifestation of what CTU would like to see in its graduates Working for a cost greater than ourselves CTU hopes that with these policies and structures created, the Hablon industry will live on even without them A genuine social enterprise, we cannot be here forever We realize also that sustainability is very important and institutionalization is critical to sustainability I am very grateful for CTU, their system, that it has provisions and it has the people, the right people I have served my purpose as a teacher but at the same time, I have also touched the lives of these women