Status of Bricks and Tiles Manufactured in Vigan, Ilocos Sur

Abstract

The study was conducted to present the profile of the bricks and tiles industry in Wigan, Ilocos Sur, particularly the manufacturers' demographic, socio-cultural, and economic profile, their sources of financial assistance for the industry, their current production and marketing practices, and problems they encountered in the brick and tile
industry. An interview schedule was used to gather data from 15l bricks and tiles manufacturers in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Frequency counts, percentages, and means were used to treat the data gathered. The average bricks and tiles manufacturer was 46 years old, male, married and had young dependents, who were his own children. The respondents' and their spouses' educational attainment ranged from elementary to high school graduate. Their fathers' educational attainment was slightly lower than their mothers'. Most of the respondents' children were in Grades I-V. Majority of the respondents owned a house and lot. The average respondent was a single proprietor engaged in the bricks and tiles industryfor 14 years. Majority of the respondents bought the clay they used at a price range from P101-700 per load. Majority of them had a starting capital ranging from P1,500-3,999 which came
from their own income. Only a few borrowed from the cooperatives, banks, relatives and fiends. More than half of them claimed that their working capital in the industry was sufficient. They had less than five laborers, majority of whom were 20-39years old. The average bricks and tiles manufacturer had an average monthly income of P5,347.18.
Majority of the respondents produced square, unglazed tiles of different sizes. These were manually molded and open-fired. The materials used in firing were firewood, hay, and animal dung, which the manufacturers bought more than half of the bricks manufacturers produced 50-149 pieces daily while majority of the manufacturers
produced 77-216 tiles daily. The average bricks manufacturer had an average monthly sales of P1,082.83 while
the average tiles manufacturer had an average monthly sale of P1,296.35. They sold their products primarily to middlemen in the manufacturers' houses. Most of the producers encountered problems on inadequate capital, high price of clay, irregular laborers, limited working place, and lowprice of sold products.