Senator Loren Legarda renews her call for the convergence of concerned local government agencies in strengthening the local fabrics industry during the launch of the Innovation Center for Yarns and Textiles (ICYT) at the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI) in Bicutan, Taguig City last May 25, 2015. The said Innovation Center is established to produce yarns of abaca, banana, pineapple and other indigenous fibers to make them available to handloom weaving communities and commercial millers or knitters in the country. The ring spinning machine (below), which spins the fibers into yarn, is one of the newly acquired equipment for the ICYT, a P54M flagship project of PTRI. Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities, is also the author of the Tropical Fabrics Law which promotes the use of Philippine natural fabrics for the official uniforms of government officials and employees to support the local fiber industry in the process. (Text by Maria Luisa S. Lumioan / Photos by Henry A. de Leon, S&T Media Service, DOST-STII)
