Log Ban Hurts Asin’s Famous Woodcarvers
The moratorium on logging in Aurora and
Quezon provinces after the devastating typhoons in December last year has
dampened the famed woodcarving industry at Asian Road in Baguio
City. Some of the best logs used to
sustain the industry came from these two provinces.
By Lyn V. Ramo
and Marlon Gomarcho
Northern Dispatch
Bulatlat
|
BAGUIO CITY (Feb. 9)
— Oca Buhungan, 42, trains his chisels on the wood and strikes it with
firmness while telling his story. Before his story ends, the block of
wood he was carving slowly takes the shape of a wooden elephant. Oca has
been an agpapaet (woodcarver) since he was 15.
Ifugao wood carver in Tuba,
Benguet works on acacia tree trunk
Photo by Ace Alegre
|
As a young artist,
his favorite subjects included animals, such as the one he worked on at
the time of the interview. He said he has done lots of lions, tigers,
elephants and the local carabao. He has also carved human figures, the
sinantatao.
“Nu dadduma,
pakitaanda kami laeng ti litrato ket padasen min nga aramiden,”
(Sometimes they only show us a picture and we try to carve the figures),
he says as he illustrates his keenness in his craft. No one, he says,
taught him to carve. “Adda laeng iti hilig ti maysa a tao” (It is
just in one’s passion), he humbly quips.
Hard labor,
priceless artwork
The 12-inch tall
wooden elephant commands a price of P250. Oca tells us that at times, the
shop owner decides how much he gets for a day’s toil. Like other wood
carvers, he is usually paid for each piece of woodcarving he finishes. He
usually spends the whole day carving an elephant.
“Kakaasi ti
maki-pordia, ta uray kasapulam ti kuwarta nu awan ti ibayad ti nagpapaet,
awan ti maalam” (Daily wage earners are at the losing end, because
even if one needs the money when the traders do not have cash, he gets
nothing), Oca said of his plight now that there are not enough buyers.
“Sabali pay ti
bayad ti agkayo” (Payment for those who deliver the wood is another
thing), Oca clarifies.
For most wood carvers
in Asin Road here – about 2 kms from Baguio - the meningococcemia scare is
just one of the reasons for the lean months which started long before the
first casualty was reported in the city. Oca remembers the name of Martin
Burnham whose abduction by the Abu Sayaff in southern Philippines caused a
slump in tourist arrivals in the country.
“Idi na-kidnap
isuna, saanen nga immay dagiti gumatang ti paet (wood carving),” Oca
relates referring to foreign tourists who used to come and buy
woodcarvings as a souvenir. He says, he only carves when there are job
orders to fill. An American tourist recently made an order for 16
elephants, he says, so he has work to do these next 15 days.
But Oca and his
employer have another problem – where to get wood now that there is a
total log ban as an aftershock of typhoon Yoyong. Kamagong which
comes mostly from typhoon-devastated Aurora province, is Oca’s favorite
wood. Ironwood, locally known as sangilo, is available in Benguet
but is fast becoming rare. Carvers now make do with acacia log which Oca
said was introduced to them by the Americans.
The total log ban
brings them a more permanent problem. “Awan ti mapaetan gapu iti total
log ban” (There is nothing to carve because of the total log ban),
relates Alex Ognayon, 45, also a wood carver.
“Uray nalpasen ket
tiliwenda” (Even finished products get impounded), the wood carvers
complain. “Saanda met nga ipalubos dagiti kaykayo a naiyanod ni bagyo”
(Government authorities do not allow even the transport of logs which were
washed away with the typhoon), he said.
Most wood carvers
here came from Ifugao province. The Ifugao carvers have fond memories of
their childhood when they would carve in the forests without going home
for several days. They disclose that they have left Ifugao in search for
more wood to carve. Some 300 of them are in Aurora and Quezon provinces,
where most still get kamagong. A larger number are either in
Pangasinan or La Union where there are more trees available for the
woodcraft.
Alex now gets carved
materials from his fellow carvers in Aurora and finishes them off. He and
his wife do the sanding and varnishing before the products are sold.
Product outlets
Wood carvers sell
their products to traders who still have to do the finishing touches such
as sanding and varnishing. A rough product usually commands a 100 percent
mark-up once it is finished. Usual buyers are those in the export
business. Foreign tourists also come to buy either for themselves or for
trading in their own countries.
Among foreign
tourists, the Americans, Japanese and Taiwanese used to frequent the shops
for job orders. There are sporadic arrivals of Scottish, Spaniards and
French nationals who buy carved items.
Melody Kinggingan of
the Kinggingan Handcrafts joins exhibits and trade fairs in greater Manila
area as an alternative to market woodcarvings. She says regular buyers
still come to place orders. However, the arrival of end-consumers or
those who buy carvings for themselves has dwindled since last year. “They
create a sizeable portion of the sales”, Melody says.
Other traders say
that they now rely on the local traders in the Marbay
Shopping Center and the Maharlika
Livelihood Center in Baguio
City. But there is a problem of cash
inflow because these stores rarely make a sale these days. “Utangenda
ket subli-sublian nga inaldaw tapno makasingir” (They take the items
on credit and we have to collect payments daily), a trader in Asin
reveals.
For Oca and a
thousand others who live daily with earnings from woodcarving, not even a
relief from the total log ban brings them enough relief. Like workers of
other industries highly dependent on tourist arrivals, wood carvers cannot
wait until the next Panagbenga Festival or the meningococcemia.
NORDIS / Bulatlat
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