In addition to a burgeoning loom-weaving industry based on the colorful Abel Abra whose shawls are now favored by celebrities including Senator Loren Legarda, Abra has a well-established bamboo-centered industry that should soon reach world markets.
Located in a fertile valley in the north, Abra is rich in forests and plantations. The bamboo industry in particular has more than doubled the number of people it employs from 1,041 in 2013 to close to 2,500 in 2015 – and the employment figures keep on increasing.
The industry has given Abra’s indigenous tribes plenty of work opportunities, too. Abra’s indefatigable Governor, Joy Bernos, is making sure that Abra is competitive enough to face the challenges it faces regionally or nationally and all the support has been handed down to ensure its sustainability.
It is not just in the traditional sector of arts and handicrafts that Abra’s entrepreneurs are actively involved – they also manufacture strong, flattened and engineered bamboos that are now used in many buildings in the region and as far as Cebu. Bamboo is the 21st century’s architectural material of choice, and Abra shows the way forward.
The province boasts numerous majestic waterfalls that numerous tourists trek their way through enjoying its sight and serenity. Developments are undergoing to make the travel to these falls comfortable and easier.
Abra offers adventurers, nature lovers and culture aficionados a wealth of memorable tourist destinations. There are seven caves, seven cold and hot spring resorts, centuries-old earthquake baroque Spanish churches and five spectacular waterfalls.
As for the loom-weaving industry, it has also become an employment engine, with sales and investments on the up and up.