In October 2024, Hibla Philippines, a women-led social enterprise championing Filipino indigenous textiles and artisan communities, was awarded a highly competitive grant of almost P5M from the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) under the Women-Helping-Women: Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWise) Program.
Hibla was one of 20 enterprises chosen from a nationwide pool of applicants whose businesses seek to address social issues through innovation, impact, and sustainability. The WHWise Program, launched in 2022, supports women entrepreneurs whose social enterprises are in the early stages of development but show great potential in addressing systemic inequalities and economic challenges—especially those affecting women.
Photo 1: DOST-PCIEERD WHWise Program National Competition, June 2023, Founder Nice Marquez pitch
Now six months into the grant and program, Hibla has scaled new heights in community training, product innovation, and cultural preservation.
A Grant for Empowering Communities
At its core, Hibla Philippines has always stood for the intersection of heritage and livelihood.
I founded Hibla Philippines with the goals to work closely with weaving and sewing communities across Luzon and Mindanao to create wearable and home-based products using traditional textiles.
With the WHWise grant, Hibla launched an intensive skills training and product development program for the Sto. Kristo Kusturera Producers Cooperative in Quezon City.
Photo 2: Founder Nice Marquez with Sto. Kristo Kusturera Producers Cooperative Officers
The cooperative consists of over 90+ women seamstresses, many of whom are heads of their households. Training modules in design thinking, garment construction, quality control, and cultural textile use were implemented, allowing the women to elevate their skills while building a more stable livelihood.
Receiving the WHWise grant meant we could take our community-centered dreams and finally ground them with structure and funding. Six months in, we are seeing the real impact—these women are learning not just how to sew, but how to become part of a value chain that honors culture and community.
Photo 3: Click the photo to read more about Hibla’s work in Sto. Kristo, Quezon City
Why Social Enterprises Need Grants
Unlike traditional businesses, social enterprises reinvest profits back into solving social problems.
For organizations like Hibla, profit is not the only metric—impact, cultural preservation, and empowerment are equally important. But because of this model, they often struggle with access to capital, making grant support critical.
Programs like WHWise address this funding gap.
With an emphasis on innovation, inclusivity, and localization, WHWise doesn’t just offer money—it offers mentorship, training, and access to a wider network of partners and institutions, including those in academia, government, and industry.
This approach aligns with the goals outlined in the proposed Philippine Social Enterprise Development Act (or Social Enterprise Act), which advocates for a national strategy to support businesses whose operations contribute to social development. Though still pending in Congress, the bill—if passed—would institutionalize support for enterprises like Hibla, offering fiscal incentives and ecosystem-wide support. Hibla’s success underlines exactly why such legislation is vital.
Part of Hibla’s vision is to digitize and modernize the ways Philippine textiles reach broader audiences.
The WHWise grant has enabled the team to invest in an e-commerce infrastructure, as well as develop a website that not only showcases their ready-to-wear and bespoke pieces but also educates visitors on the history and meaning behind the fabrics and other customization and visualization features for garments.
By the end of 2025, Hibla aims to launch a capsule collection designed and sewn entirely by the Sto. Kristo cooperative, made with indigenous weaves sourced directly from partner communities.
A percentage of the proceeds will go to sustaining the weavers’ associations, ensuring that the impact of the WHWise grant reverberates across the supply chain.
Hibla is also exploring partnerships with cultural institutions and embassies abroad to expand its Weave Your Way workshop series—an immersive program that teaches the basics of loom weaving while sharing cultural narratives.
