40+ exhibitors from 11 regions
Sandugo OTOP Trade Expo shows
PH best hand crafted innovations

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, (PIA)--From its humble roots as a provincial fair in 1989, this year’s Sandugo One Town-One-Product (OTOP) Trade Expo 2026 opens a five-day exhibit that continues to showcase the best, most creative weave of the region’s artesanal traditions embedded with the contemporary fibers of innovation.

Taking the Island City Mall Activity Center as its venue, the Sandugo OTOP Trade Expo, on its third year with the OTOP official logo but has consistently shown the best of the towns since 2005, and has been a renewal of the Sandugo compact, but with a modern covenant.

“Today, as we open the Sandugo OTOP Trade Expo, we are not just launching a market, but we are renewing that very same compact of a shared commitment of entrepreneurs, government agencies, private sector and the community all working to uplift and champion what is uniquely Boholano,” according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Bohol Provincial Director Vierna Teresa Chiu-Ligan.

Envisioned in the 1980s, the provincial fair was an attempt to open a venue for DTI-assisted micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Bohol to showcase finest crafts steeped with local ingenuity and creativity, link MSMEs buyers who also introduce design innovations and open new fields of opportunities for the MSMEs.

Over the years, the provincial fair has gathered a fame which the government has acclaimed to be one of the country’s oldest and longest running trade fairs, attracting a huge domestic and international market, according to DTI Regional Director Esperanza Melgar.

In the last years, the Sandugo OTOP Trade Expo expanded beyond the provincial borders, with the finest craftsmen and food innovators in Bohol joined by dynamic entrepreneurs who have travelled across the country to exhibit their products here.

This Sandugo Trade expo has become a tapestry of Philippine ingenuity. Side by side with Bohol’s heritage crafts and unique geo-creatiuve innovations, we have distinct flavors, handwoven textiles and artesanal traditions from across the archipelago, Ligan said.

The trade expo with over 40 participating exhibitors from 11 regions feature home decors and furnishings, furniture and fixtures, baskets and hand-woven products in indigenous materials enriched with fibers, loomwovens, food products, health and wellness products, wearables, personal wear and industrial design innovations as well as a special pavilion for coconut products, has been the object of exhibitors, attracted by the record-breaking cash and booked sales characteristic of the Sandugo expos.

A living testament of the OTOP program uplifting local communities while building a unified competitive nation, the showcase also puts to the spotlight not just creative commodities but stories of weavers presenting age-old traditions while incorporating new designs, innovative flavors of the country’s regional gastronomic nuances now offered with modern food safety technology and creative packaging as well as tangible handicrafts of geo-creative Boholanos, that display heritage and contemporary innovation.

Through initiatives like OTOP and DTIs deliberate focus of product development, we have seen grassroots enterprises evolve. Our MSMEs have shown that they can scale up meet global standards and infuse strict market professionalism into their craft without losing the distinct Boholano soul, Ligan pointed out.

Meanwhile, Bohol governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, whose administration has poured support to the MSME, and who has toured the exhibits said he has seen that Bohol MSMEs have what it takes to grow, innovate and become major players in our economy.

I encourage our fellow Boholanos as well as visitors to take time to explore the exhibits and support our local entrepreneurs. Every purchase you make, is a vote of confidence in the quality, creativity and resilience of Boholano enterprise, Aumentado said. (PIAbohol)