About Abre LineaFounded by high school friends Anna Veloso Tuazon, Claude Rodrigo Canete, and Joy Yu, Abre Linea was born after Typhoon Haiyan tore through Eastern Visayas in November 8, 2013. Having witnessed the trail of destruction, Abre was Anna, Claude and Joy’s combined response to the tapering relief provisions and the scarcity of soft loans for Haiyan survivors.
Anna, a cultural heritage advocate with roots in Leyte and Samar, sought to build pride around a traditional art-making process that would double as a source of livelihood for communities. Inspired by how contemporary design builds emotional ties, Claude wanted her designs to connect Haiyan survivors with the wider base of people who wanted to help. And with her heart set on helping others, Joy decided to venture into social entrepreneurship and use her familiarity with trade and investment on designing and producing for social impact. Abre Linea Incorporated is a social enterprise that fuses contemporary designs with local artisanal craftsmanship through its livelihood projects. Abre, which translates to “open” in Waray, is an open response to provide a sustainable form of livelihood for Haiyan-ravaged weaving communities in Leyte and Samar. The advocacy is simple: to open access to help. |
Our AdvocacyTo get local communities on the path to recovery, the Abre group kickstarted their first intervention: weaving Frimbistylis globulosa (locally known as “ticog grass”) and Corypha (locally known as “buri”) palm leaves, local resources that Eastern Visayas is known for. The Abre group commissioned handicraft items made of ticog grass, gave capital downpayments (instead of loans) to weavers, and funded the harvest of available ticog grass to supply weavers with the raw material they needed.
The result of these design and production interventions are the Abre Linea products you see today. Each Abre Linea product is carefully crafted by artisans who have only grown more resilient with each natural disaster. All the proceeds of the Abre Linea sales go back to the communities in Leyte and Samar involved in the production process. |