By John Noel E. Herrera
The return of “Tahum,” an all-Filipino-themed pop-up event organized by Assumption Iloilo Education Foundation, Inc. (AIEFI), aims to raise funds for the scholarship of less-privileged students in Iloilo.
Sister Aremas Grantos, Assumption school director, said that the net proceeds of the event will go to the school’s scholarship program which handles scholarships for underprivileged but deserving students in Iloilo.
The event, which is a passion project of AIEFI, also puts the spotlight on artisans who champion empowering local communities through their products, according to Sister Grantos.
“We want to promote our local products with international quality but more than that, it is the advocacy because all the exhibitors have really understood why they are there. Because part of their proceeds will go to the scholarship program,” Sister Grantos stressed in a press conference on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
Over 50 artisans from Manila, Cebu, Bacolod, Antique, Capiz, Baguio, and Iloilo will participate in the exhibit at the Iloilo Convention Center from March 3 to 5, 2023, showcasing different creative products varying from arts and craft, fashion, food, and home and lifestyle.
AIEFI added that among the exhibitors are micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs who are supported by the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) of the Iloilo Provincial Government.
“This is also an opportunity for us to expose our micro-enterprises. We’ve selected products that will be displayed during the Tahum,” LEDIP center chief Aulynn Yue Sin said.
The organizers hoped to generate over P800,000 from the event as 15 to 20 percent of the proceeds would go to the scholarship program of the selected students.
Sister Grantos explained that the school currently has 18 scholars who they have helped to avail the ‘Assumption education’, as they were given scholarships for six years (from Grade 7 to Grade 12).
“It’s a celebration that we are all here, that we still have this opportunity to continue Tahum and to help students and it is something to thank God for,” she added.
Tahum Festival, which the AIEFI described as the biggest curated all-FIlipino-themed pop-up event in Visayas, was first introduced in 2019, but it was halted in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
