Hablon Weaving

A closer look at "hablon" weaving in Iloilo. 

"Hablon" is a hand-loomed fabric woven by women of Panay Island in the Visayas region for more than a century.

I have always associated the tapping sounds of hablon weaving to that of  Tinikling, a traditional Filipino dance.  The rhythm and grace of a hablon weaver are comparable to that of a Tinikling dancer, but hablon weaving is definitely more challenging.  I've watched the weavers at Arevalo Weaving Center in Iloilo and I came to appreciate the intricacy of this craft.

When the Spanish arrived in Panay in the 1560s, hablon weaving in the island was well-established.  Colorful hand-woven fabrics were sold in festive market fairs, local traders bartered with the Chinese, and by 1870s, hand-woven textile was the main export of the province. 

The weavers were using natural fibers such as cotton, jusi (banana fiber), pina (pineapple fiber) and maguey fiber.  By the 1920s, weavers made innovations by combining man-made fibers and hablon went on to become a major player in the Philippine textile industry in the 1950s up to 1970s.  The demand declined in the 1980s when the market was dominated by less labor-intensive, machine-woven textiles.  The number of weavers also dwindled as they started to look for better job opportunities.  The lack of interest to learn the craft among the younger generation also contributed to hablon's decline. I don't blame them---hablon weaving is not easy.

Hablon weavers are getting old.  Lola Mayang, a hablon weaver in her 80's, started weaving at 15 and was able to send her children to college.  I watched as her arthritic fingers skillfully handled the spools, both legs pedal the bamboo poles.  But her fading eyesight will eventually force her to retire soon.

Patadyong is a multi-colored fabric, also a hablon product, worn by Filipino women in pre-colonial Philippines.  It is still worn today by older women in the provinces, especially in the Visayas region.  It is worn like a loose skirt, knotted on the waist.  It is also worn as a sling and used to carry a baby so the mother's hands are free to do other chores.

Hablon are made into shawls, barong (a formal Filipino garment), dresses and gowns, home textile and scarves.

At Arevalo Weaving Center, I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 young weavers---they're young men in their early 20's.  Hablon weaving is still a woman's craft but I wouldn't be surprised if more men would get into this livelihood.  The 3 young weavers were field workers in a sugarcane plantation in my home province of Negros Occidental.  A nun brought them to Iloilo to help them find jobs that would eventually support their schooling.  They expressed interest in learning hablon weaving and the owners of the weaving center took them in.  

It was particularly fascinating to watch this young man with tattoos unwinding threads, making spools dance across strands of fibers.  I asked if he'd go back to his old job---he said no, hablon weaving is easier than cutting grass in the fields under the hot sun.  He smiled and added that his skin became lighter since he started weaving.  

To sustain this industry, hablon weaving definitely needs young blood and new market.

Panay is a historic island in the western Visayas region.  It is composed of 4 provinces--Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz and Antique.  Iloilo is the biggest city and the center of trade.  There are numerous sea ports and 4 airports in Panay, 3 of which are for domestic flights, the airport in Iloilo now caters to international flights. It's 55 minutes from Manila by plane.

Linking to Monday Mellow Yellows

Blue Monday
Our World Tuesday

All Saints' Day

“Oh how the candles will be lit and the wood of worm burn in a fiery dust. For on all Hallow's Eve will the spirits come to play, and only the fruit of thy womb will satisfy their endless roaming.”  ~ Solange Nicole

All Saints' Day or Todos los Santos is celebrated in the Philippines today, November 1st.  Filipinos observe this day solemnly by visiting graves of dead relatives, offering prayers and flowers, lighting candles, cleaning and repairing graves.

Fort Santiago, revisited/OWT

I am having fun with photo effects.:p  And I think these photos are perfect for the vintage effect, don't you think?  The top and bottom photos were taken in front of Fort Santiago, an old Spanish fort in the walled city of Intramuros.  With these horse-drawn carriages, I was thrown back in time to 1900's Manila.  But I was here to attend a modern-day wedding reception at the Plaza de Moriones.  My friend's son got married---I couldn't believe it!  It was like yesterday when this handsome little boy entertained himself by drawing pictures while us girls were having girl-talk. 

my friend, Angie, giving her speech and crying at the same time.  she couldn't seem to stop crying.:p  Nico, after all, is her first-born.

This building across the entrance of Fort Santiago houses United Philippine Lines (UPL), a manning company for the maritime industry. 

Linking to Our World - Tuesday

T'boli, the dreamweavers [OWT and RT]

a T'boli girl  playing a tnonggong, a deerskin drum used 

as a supportive instrument in the kulintang ensemble

Last October, the T'boli culture was showcased at the Manila FAME, a bi-annual trade fair where Philippine exporters exhibit their products and designs for the international market.  The T'boli is an indigenous tribe from the highlands near Lake Sebu, South Cotabato in Mindanao.  They have a rich heritage in music, dance and story-telling.  

The T'boli women are known for their traditional woven abaca fabric called T'nalak.  According to T'boli legend, T'nalak weaving was taught to their ancestors by the goddess Fu Dalu in a dream.  Superstition surrounds the making of this fabric.  The traditional patterns were conceptualized through dreams and "visitations" that renders the dreamer speechless and deaf until the design is fully executed.  Patterns and designs are often inspired by nature.  T'nalak is often referred to by non-T'boli as "dreamweave", and T'boli women are called "dreamweavers".

The T'nalak occupies a special significance in the lives of the T'boli people.  It is basically used as blankets and clothing, and considered helpful for safe delivery when used as pre-natal covering.  T'nalak is also used as dowry and bride price; as offerings to the "earth spirits" to ask for rain, cutting of trees, healing of the sick, thanksgiving, and its presence during certain feasts give it a sacred value.  

T'nalak is a product of an age-old tradition of tie-dye weaving.  A tedious process composed of rituals that conveys the T'boli's spiritual and traditional beliefs.  The coloring agents are extracted from leaves, roots and barks of trees.   The weaving takes almost two and a half months for a piece about 20 feet long.

More about the T'bolis and T'nalak  at The Indigenous People of Mindanao, Prayway, Gida's T'nalak, Mercury News Online

Linking to Our World - Tuesday and Ruby Tuesday

Kayangan Lake: A journey to paradise

From a distance, Coron Island is a massive and unbroken limestone wall of sheer precipices that juts out from the sea.  Up close, lush stunted forest vegetation, so resilient that they are able to grow on pure rock, cover the craggy cliffs of the island.  

On a cloudy morning, we traveled to Coron Island to see the famous Kayangan Lake, one of the seven mountain lakes in the island.   Out of the seven lakes, only Kayangan and Barracuda lakes are open to the public.  It took our outrigger boat less than 30 minutes to reach the island from Coron town harbor in the nearby Busuanga Island.

Coron Island is an ancestral territory of the Tagbanua, one of the oldest tribes in the Philippines.  Visitors must pay an entrance fee of P200 (or less than $5) per person.  Funds go to the Tagbanua Foundation that supports community projects such as medical assistance for the elderly and scholarship for Tagbanua children.

This was the outrigger boat that brought us to the island.

We stopped to read the sign---the rules are listed here. 

The steep ascent and descent to the lake are ideal for trail hikers---I'm not one of them though.  So imagine me almost running out of oxygen on the way up and down the steps.  This was my --th stop in the guise of taking photos.

It had been raining and the rocks that formed the steps were slippery, the wood railings helped me a lot.  After an arduous climb, we were rewarded with this spectacular view of Coron Bay and the most photographed channel entrance to Coron Island.

From this viewpoint of 250 feet above sea level, we started our descent to Kayangan Lake.  The lake is a Hall of Fame awardee for the "cleanest and greenest inland body of water".  

Enclosed by high limestone karsts, this splendid awuyuk (lake) is held sacred by tribal folks. The Tagbanua believe the panya'in (hostile spirits) dwell in the lakes so they seek the advice of a babailan (shaman) before they go to the limestone walls of the lake to search for balinsasayao (Collocalia troglodytes) nests.

The water was warm and a bit salty, according to my sister.  And the emerald water was so  clear that breathtaking stalagmite formations underwater and schools of fish were visible from where I sat.  There were no corals underwater, only rock formations.  

I only soaked for a little while then stayed on a shady spot under the overhanging  branches.  This place is undeniably beautiful, but lakes spook me...images of Loch Ness monster  and undiscovered life forms crossed my mind.  Lakes are  mysterious--I wonder what forces of nature created them.

I admire this boy's courage--the dark crevices under the rocks creep me out.

Swimming with the fishes...some even bit my legs!  They probably wanted me to swim with them, too.  Sorry, guys.  Our guide assured me there were no big fish in this lake, only the greenish elongated fish that resembles dilis (anchovies) were found here.

And here's my little sister---she's fearless and tireless!  She snorkeled all over the lake, even attempted to get into a cave on the other side. 

We stayed the whole blissful morning in Kayangan Lake...it was serene, an amazing experience.  Thanks to the Tagbanua for taking care of this place and sharing a piece of paradise with us.

Share your world at Our World Tuesday and get virtually wet at Watery Wednesday
Also linking to NF Waters

Calamianes: Out on the water

@ mirandablue

I have always dreamed of living by the ocean.   I'd love nothing more than communing with the wilderness on a pristine headland or crescent of sand. But I would prefer my coastline to have a little bit more of land than rocks.  


These stilt houses are homes of the Tagbanuas, an indigenous folk of Coron Island, one of the islands we visited in early September.  The Tagbanuas of Coron Island are mostly fishermen, but when the amihan (northeastern monsoon) blows and keeps the fishermen inland, the Tagbanua scale the jagged limestone cliffs towards cave entrances high above sea level.  Then they make an  arduous, death-defying descent into dark caves to gather balinsasayao (Callocalia troglodytes) nests, an edible nest made from swiftlets saliva.

@ mirandablue

For Thursday 2 Questions - you are invited to answer and join:

1.    What exotic food have you tried lately?

2.    What is the most amazing place you have visited recently?

Jalandoni Ancestral House [My World]

@ mirandablue

I have been mulling over these photos for months now.   I would like to tell you that this is just another ancestral house I visited in Silay City during my vacation in May.  But fact is, I purposely went to Silay to see this house. The Jalandoni ancestral house in Silay City was built by my maternal great-grandfather, Bernardino Jalandoni, in 1908. Although we don't have a relationship with this side of my mother's family, I was naturally curious.  Bernardino, according to my mother, used to visit them at my grandmother's house in Valladolid in the late 1940's up to the early 50's.  He would then take my mother and her siblings to Hda. Parnaso, a hacienda owned by the Jalandonis, to spend the weekend.  

@ mirandablue

Aside from my mother's childhood memories of weekends spent in Hda. Parnaso, there was no kinship between the families.  It was probably because the connection between them, my grandfather, [Bernardino's nephew] had  passed away.

So I explored the house like the usual tourist.  I am glad that the heirs decided to preserve this house for future generations---to see how the elite families lived during the grand old days of Negros' sugar industry.  The guided tour gave insights as to how the house was built and how the family lived.  It's a huge house made of stone and wood but it's design, according to the guide, follows the typical Philippine nipa hut.  The existing wooden structures are the same hardwood that came from Mindoro, an island known for its forests and logging industry.  Most of the embossed tin ceiling trays were imported from Hamburg, Germany.  It's wooden transoms done in "calado" or cut out style, using elaborate French design are a study of combined visual aesthetics and function.

@ mirandablue
the living room

The creative use of glass, capiz shells, steel grills, wooden louvers and panels for windows continues to maximize light, ventilation and security today as it has since it was designed a century ago.

@ mirandablue
the master's bedroom

The carved antique furniture, a retablo with religious icons, the solihia (rattan weave) daybed and chairs---the ambiance of this house illustrates the lifestyle of the Negrense elite at the turn of the century.

@ mirandablue

The heirs have entrusted the care of this house to the Silay Heritage Foundation, and it has been turned into a museum.  A doll collection, framed old photos and other memorabilia are displayed at the ground floor. 

@ mirandablue
the daughter's bedroom

The Jalandoni Museum is at Rizal Street, Silay City.  It's 10 minutes from the airport, about 30 minutes to Bacolod City, the provincial capital.

More photos in next week's My World - Tuesday

Tropical depression

@ mirandablue

My world is inundated by typhoons and monsoon rains---three typhoons this past week alone.  We were hit by six typhoons in July, the most recent, "Lando", is the 12th tropical depression this year.  Flash floods, landslides, missing fishermen were in the news as well as images of evacuees, flooded streets, damaged crops, bridges and homes.  An average of 20 typhoons hit the Philippines every year but it seems that we are always caught unprepared.

@ mirandablue

Some observers say our weather forecasting has improved, alert systems are in place.  But I believe preventive measures remain a challenge.  Communities in high-risk areas continue to mushroom despite warnings from risk managers.  The bahala na (come what may) attitude of Filipinos somehow contributes to non-preparation for any disastrous event.  

There is a Japanese expression "shikata ga nai" which is roughly translated to "it couldn't be helped".  It may be the Filipino equivalent of "bahala na"---the difference is, the Japanese takes every possible precaution to confront the wrath of fate.  While we say "bahala na" and we totally surrender to God and the whims of destiny.  

@ mirandablue

The annual cost of loss of lives, property and crops is not cheap, the human suffering immeasurable.  We learn our lessons after every disaster, we become more resilient with every passing calamity.  But we need to do more---be more proactive rather than reactive.  Push our leaders to take definite actions, seriously implement zoning, upgrade the agencies in disaster risk management.

This is My World-Tuesday and Watery Wednesday