Negros Island in the Visayas accounts for almost 90 percent of the total silk production in the Philippines, according to Japanese non-profit organization OISCA. The first silk production center in Negros Occidental was established in Bago City in the 1980s by OISCA. Currently, the facility manages all stages of silk production, from raising silkworms to making finished silk products. Building on the success at Negros, silk manufacturing development projects are now spreading to Mindanao and Luzon.

The 1980s Sugar Crisis and Introducing Silk

OISCA has been supporting agricultural development in the Philippines since 1967, with an objective to increase food production in the country. Agriculturist Shigemi Watanabe arrived in 1973 as an OISCA specialist and initially worked as an instructor at an agricultural university in Mindanao. The current Bago training center in Negros Occidental was established in 1988 funded by OISCA’s Shizuoka Bureau.

During the 1980s, Negros Island fell into severe economic crisis and food shortages due to declining world sugar prices - the island’s main export. It was at this time that OISCA initiated training programs to introduce farmers to silkworm raising. The farmers in the mountain areas had no other means of living but making charcoal and corn farming.

In 1989, with support from a sericulture cooperative in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japanese specialists were sent to Negros to cultivate mulberry fields - necessary for silkworms to feed on. Silkworm eggs were then imported from Japan, and the center succeeded in hatching silkworms from these eggs.

However, the project aroused suspicion among some locals, and an incident occurred where a Japanese technician was kidnapped. “We desperately explained that our only aim was to help farmers improve their livelihoods, even if only a little,” Watanabe recalls of the negotiations that led to the technician’s release. Following the incident, Japan-based NGOs withdrew from Negros citing security concerns, prompting even then-President Corazon Aquino to express concern. However, Watanabe and his wife Thelma remained in Bago, continuing training programs and sending local farmers to Japan for further education. Thanks to their dedication, the province achieved full-scale silkworm production by 1995.

First Silk Production in Negros Occidental

By 1998, Negros producers exported 1.5 tons of dried cocoons to a reeling mill in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, earning solid reviews. Yet, because export costs were high, OISCA began exploring how to make silk locally.

By that time, Japan’s sericulture industry was in decline, and many prefectural reeling inspection facilities were facing closure. Arrangements were made to transfer reeling machines from one such closing facility to Negros with support from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, enabling the training center to begin full in-house production of raw silk in 1999. In 2006, the center also succeeded in developing locally produced silkworm eggs.

Over the years, the project received two, three-year support programs from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in 2000 - 2003 and 2012 - 2015, as part of its sericulture extension initiatives.

Presently, the center works with more than 70 sericulture farmers spread across Murcia, Bago, San Carlos, Calatrava, Talisay, and other areas of Negros. Each farmer typically cultivates around 4,000 to 5,000 square meters of mulberry trees and raises cocoons four to five times per year. About 80 kilograms of cocoons are delivered from each farm to the center annually. In 1995, these cocoons were purchased at 80 pesos per kilogram; today, the price is around 320 pesos, according to Watanabe.

Silk production is broadly divided into two stages: sericulture, which involves raising silkworms, and reeling, in which raw silk is extracted from cocoons. “It is extremely difficult for farmers to acquire reeling machinery on their own,” says Watanabe. The center currently hatches the eggs, sells silkworms to farmers, and then purchases the cocoons once they are raised. These cocoons are then processed into raw silk at the center’s reeling facility before being shipped out.

In the weaving facility, approximately ten workers - some trained in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture and are able to speak Japanese - operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most are women from nearby farming households, many of whom have worked at the center for more than a decade. Annalyn, who has been weaving here for 18 years, says she produces about 20 meters of silk cloth per month - equivalent to roughly five pieces of the traditional Barong Tagalog.

The Future of Silk in the Philippines

The center currently produces just over 600 kilograms of raw silk annually. Its luster is highly praised, and about 80 percent is shipped to weavers across the country for making souvenirs and other products. Since 2005, the center has also manufactured its own brand of goods such as shawls, producing around 50 pieces per month. These items are sold at the Bago City Tourism Office and at the Negros Trade Fair held annually in Manila.

Although mulberry fields and rearing facilities suffered damage during the 2021 typhoon, repairs were conducted the following year with assistance from OISCA and JICA. Facing current challenges, Watanabe