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Malabon’s Brgy. Acacia is planning to extract fibers from the water lily plants abounding the nearby Tullahan and Tinejeros rivers and turned it into decorative fruit baskets.

Flor Austria, a recycling expert assigned to the city’s solid waste management office (SWMO), said the officials of the barangay have expressed their willingness to acquire their own drying and water lily fiber extracting machines after attending a seminar conducted by the Las Piñas Water Lily Weaving Center (LPWLWC) wherein the commercial value of the water lily (scientific name: Nymphaeaceae) was expounded.

”They (barangay officials) were thrilled to learn that the fibers extracted from the water lily plants could be used to craft baskets, bags and even native paper. We are encouraging to go ahead with this endeavor as this could proved to be an alternative source of livelihood for marginalized residents living in Brgy. Acacia,” she further stated.

Over a 100 Malabon residents earlier participated in the LPWLWC seminars late November.

The LPWLWC also loaned the city some of its portable drying and extractor equipments to provide trainees with “hands-on” training with such device and give participants a first-hand glimpse on what dried water lily fibers looks like.

She added that some Brgy. Acacia “kagawads” are presently undergoing advance training at the LPWLWC to make them more knowledgeable in the art of water lily fiber extraction and weaving.

Aside from its economic potential, Austria said, removing the water lilies from the river and extracting their fiber could help a lot in the city’s anti-flooding efforts as the aquatic plants could clog up drainage pipes of flood pumping stations and damaging them. source: PNA

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