Fr. Brian Gore convened with Central Philippines State University’s top management and Kabankalan City Hon. Vice Mayor Miguel M. Zayco for a potential collaboration, morning of January 17 at CPSU Main Campus.

The meeting’s agendum is to discuss a potential partnership between the university and Fr. Brian Gore with the Negros 9 Weaving Community—supporting the local weaving industry, sharing technology and techniques, and sourcing feasible eco-friendly raw materials for weaving products.

CPSU President Dr. Aladino Moraca who initiated the talks months prior, expressed his willingness to explore the options available and the possibility of utilizing local weaving products for the university’s commencement rites.

Hon. Miguel M. Zayco complimented the woven products made and brought by the Negros 9 Weaving Community, “Given, nami ni ang ila ubra, hipid. Hugot bala…[Given, their works are well-made, neat. They are well-bound…] Yeah, actually, every now and then I buy for the showroom—for visitors who come. They like it. Sometimes gani, gakawad-an ko stock kay maayo ang demand. [Sometimes, I even run out of stock because the demand is good.]”

Fr. Gore, an Australian St. Columban missionary to the Philippines since 1969, a member of the well-known Negros Nine—a mouthpiece of the Negrenses who suffered from injustices during the 1972 Martial Law, currently leads the Negros 9 Weaving Community, which is made of 13 adept local artisans.

“I hope that it’d be through the cooperation of the different agencies, [that] we can really develop local thread which is good for the environment and is [also] good for our farmers, and we will be able to produce products from Kabankalan that will be accepted worldwide,” Fr. Brian Gore answered when asked about his hopes for the potential collaboration.

After the meeting, Fr. Gore visited CPSU’s weaving center and met with CPSU’s very own artisans.