HABI SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2017
VOL. 6
NO. 1
DREAMWEAVERS The Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association, Inc. (LASIWWAI) special issue
ABOUT THE WE AV ERS
BE HI ND THE TA PESTRI ES
WEAV E, EMPOWER
PRODUCT S H OWCAS E
Get a glimpse into the association of dreamweavers
Habi delves deeper into the meaning behind the T’nalak cloth
Discover how weaving has empowered women in Lake Sebu
Feast your eyes on the different, intricate products LASIWWAI crafts
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p. 7
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HABI ADDU AB MASS COMMUNICATION 3-B
Allyster Berthe Astronomo EDITOR- IN- CHIEF
Mina Michaela Limbaga
Jerikha Sushayne Murcia Allyster Berthe Astronomo Kathryn Lianne Ronco
Jerikha Sushayne Murcia Vanessa Duma-an Vanessa Kyle Arabe Nicole Peñanueva Katrina Oralde Danielle Alexis Rendon Jannine Joyce Cartagena Darwin Deane Divino Jason Christian Geralde Shekinah Glory Sombilon Dianne Vargas
L AYOU T A RT I STS
W R I T ERS
Rostum Sinfuego, Jr. Joshua Chu Audrey Fernandez Kate Hiponia Eunice Lim Kim SoYeong Jeraint Paul Mendoza Carlo Miñoza
Danica Villanueva Celine Bonete Katrina Oralde Jason Christian Geralde Dianne Vargas Danielle Alexis Rendon Jannine Joyce Cartagena
MANAGI NG ED I TO R
Jazmin Pechardo Precious Dapit Floyd Caballero COPY E D I TO RS
P H OTO G R A P H E RS
MANAGI NG T EA M
LIKHA
HIBLA
Cyntelle Joanne Saguan Danielle Fanlo Trisha Balansag
Mary Cathleen Delfin John Joseph Sandoval Paul Ephraim Lopez Jan Mari Tabligan Ma. Isobella Rebosura Bianca Faye Bonifacio Jerry Louise Huerbana
CO F F E E TAB L E B O O K
B RO C H UR E, B O O KL E T
Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez MODE R ATO R A ND P UB L I CAT I O N C O NSULTA NT
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The Philippines’ complex tapestry of different cultures and traditions woven together is its biggest strength as a nation. Each thread is different; complete on its own, and unique without a doubt. Each one represents a different facet of Filipino culture. As these threads converge, overlap, and intertwine, they form our identity as a nation. It may seem that we lose the threads in the bigger picture of the tapestry, but in truth, they do not. The threads still maintain their identity and integrity, its striking colors contributing to the bigger picture.
Now, dear reader, we celebrate one of those threads in the Filipino tapestry.
This issue honors the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers’ Association, Inc. or LASIWWAI. They are a phenomenal group of artisans versed in the craft of dream weaving, who have gone above and beyond their trade to empower the community they serve. Each article in this publication delves into different aspects of the organization––from the history of their craft to their current projects, and more. We hope that you, dear reader, will enjoy learning about the women of LASIWWAI as much as we enjoyed discovering the beauty of their work.
Sincerely,
Allyster
SPECIAL ISSUE: LAKE SEBU INDIGENOUS WOMEN WEAVERS ASSOCIATION, INC. (LASIWWAI)
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Weaving for the future LEADER
LASIWWAI founder Jenita Eko gives a speech during the Habi staff’s visit.
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WEAVERS
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Some of the members of the LASIWWAI in their traditional attire.
HOME
BY Jerikha Sushayne Murcia, Jan Mari Tabligan, and Allyster Berthe Astronomo
The T’Boli are famous for their spirit-infused T’nalak, an abaca fabric produced by women of Mindanao’s T’boli tribe in which the works are highly valued. In order to give
weavers. Years after being established, through the organization’s aspiration, LASIWWAI and their products were slowly recognized with the help of various institutions. Their high class T’nalak products were patronized not only in the country but also internationally. The formation of the
“It is only through education that we can truly empower women and I.P children.” importance on the skills and works of the T’Boli women and protect them from exploitation, Lake Sebu Indigenous Women’s Association, Inc. (LASIWWAI) was established on 2001 with 85 master weavers in Sitio Lamkua, Barangay Klubi, Municipality of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. It is a nonstock, non-profit organization community based educational institution established and managed by the T’nalak
organization became the dooropener to a lot of opportunities such as marketing their products. The women weavers were educated on how to negotiate and sell their T’nalak weavings, which protects them from the traders who took advantage on them. Moreover, through the efforts of the leaders of the organization, T’nalak weaving has been granted a geographical indication mark
The LASIWWAI headquarters in Lake Sebu.
which intends to protect their geographical location as well as their resources. With this, it sustains the originality and authenticity of their products because of the label. This persuades a lot of people to buy and patronize T’nalak and the effect of the purchase would eventually help the women weavers. LASIWWAI has advocacies intended to aid the needs of the community and the T’boli tribe. One of these advocacies is to tap the highend market in terms of social enterprise in order to gain profit so that their products would become known to the people. Another advocacy aims to empower women through weaving. They believe that infused in their product, the T’nalak, is their identity as T’boli women. It will have a symbiotic relationship wherein through weaving, the T’boli tribe will gain education and give voice to women from the discrimination that their tribe had been observing for generations now. “It is only through
education that we can truly empower women and I.P children,” said Jenita Eko, LASIWWAI’s President. The T’boli tribe has a tradition of polygamous and early marriage. Through proper education, they believe that this practices will be change which suppresses the women in their tribe. Through weaving, they really wanted to push education in order to empower the women in their tribe. Furthermore, the T’boli women believes that weaving helps environmental sustainability. They never used any synthetic material and advocates natural process. Despite the fast changing world, T’boli managed to preserved their culture and ancestral land. In weaving, they believed that it could help and protect their people as well as their ancestral domains, weaving for the future of the T’boli. ■
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Amidst modernization and a robust society BY Shekinah Glory Sombilon and Dianne Vargas
The Philippine Culture will always be alive and will continue to grow as weaving will always be in the hearts, mind, soul, and passion of the people in South Cotabato. When people talk about what is special about South Cotabato, one can conclude that it is the Land of the Dreamweavers resides. Lake Sebu is known as the land of the dream weavers because the T’bolis make T’nalak woven out of abaca fiber and natural dyes. T’boli women have grown to make T’nalak; learning from their older sisters, mother, and even grandmother. Usually, in order for a woman to be in Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Incorporated (LASIWWAI), she must have an abaca plantation in her backyard or wherever. It is a community-based organization composed of T’boli women who are all T’nalak weavers. Just last year, South Cotabato celebrated its 50th year of the dream-weaving tradition. It highlighted the rich culture and tradition of T’nalak weaving.
T’nalak is one of the most famous cultural products made in the Philippines. According to T’boli tradition, T’nalak designs have been passed on to the next generation and have molded women from a young age up to now to make their dreams an inspiration in making the T’nalak brought by their ancestors. Beautiful and simple it may seem but the process of weaving is a tedious one. It takes months to finish a T’nalak. It is not something you get in fast food chains where waiting for minutes would suffice or ordering in online shops and after a few days, it would be delivered to your house. Also, they believe cutting the cloth will cause sickness or death unless it is done according to traditions. Women who make it usually practice abstinence in order for the product to remain pure. So, who is Lang Dulay? She is the most popular amongst the T’boli weavers; dubbed as the Living Treasure when she was still alive. In 1998, then President Fidel Ramos bestowed her the Manlilikha ng Bayan award for her outstanding craft and masterpieces that made the T’nalak
and the T’bolis famous and she also established a weaving center. She learned to weave when she was just 12 years old after she dreamed about it, and also from her mother, Luan Senig. Be’ Lang Dulay knows a hundred designs, including the ‘bulinglangit’ (clouds), the ‘bankiring’ (hair bangs), and the ‘kabangi’ (butterfly). By way of weaving, she strives hard to keep her people’s tradition alive. Be that as it may, there is a month-long tribute to Lang Dulay that is continuously done in the place where she grew up in South Cotabato in Mindanao, finishing in her internment on May 28 at Tbong Lamdalag, Lake Sebu. Dulay earned the moniker “The Dreamweaver” in light of the fact that, as indicated by T’boli senior citizens, she initially made the T’nalak fabric after she imagined about it at age 12. Her Weaving Center that filled in as a territory where she instructed more youthful age about the craftsmanship and aptitude of weaving has been frequented visited by media, architects and visitors around the world. Her commitment has
conveyed T’boli and their artworks to the world, respected and delivered into different mold and home accessories. This contribution of Lang Dulay led to women empowerment as women learned how to design their own T’nalak. And because of that, they are able to have their income of their own and independent contributors to their society and family. Women can stand on their own. She added that people were in awe with her works whenever they visit the Weaving Center, “always full of people”, she said. One thing that made her so special and stood out from the T’bolis who are also making T’nalak cloths was whenever she goes out and sells her finished products, she also has her granddaughter with her to interpret what is the meaning that underlies her T’nalak. However, she passed away two years ago already. Even though her soul has rested in peace, her works still continue to prosper and passed on to the next generation. She is a legend, a legacy, and now a lost treasure. ■
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T’Nalak patterns through the years BY
Katrina Marie Oralde
The T’Nalak cloth has long been a part of not just the T’Boli’s culture but also their identity. Through the years, the weavers’ dreams are evolving through time. With this, their patterns are also becoming more different and more intricate. Uyel Anggul, one of the oldest weavers in T’Boli, said that her great grandmother and grandmother’s dreams were not keen into the meaning of their dreams and they only retained that mental image to guide them in making the design of the T’Nalak. She also noted that in each clan of weavers, they have their very own designs. Each generation of weavers doesn’t have original patterns but only innovated ones from their clan’s elderly weavers. “Here, the designs actually come from different
clans. Like from the Ufung clan, their clan’s design is called the Banggala which is the most intricate design and most beautiful in all of the one hundred designs told by Lang Dulay,” Anggul explained in Tagalog. The clan’s patterns are very important to them because it also represents their identity and family relations. The patterns are not easily shared with other weavers’ years ago. Today, weavers can just make little changes into a pattern and still call it the same pattern. “In our clan we have a pattern called Basag which means palm. Like this pattern, I dreamt about its leaves, so this pattern is called ‘Doun Basag’ which means leaves of the palm,” the expert weaver shared while holding her finished T’Nalak. Today, the weavers are already making money out of their T’Nalaks out of
the support system that they have in Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Incorporated (LASIWWAI). Their cloths are already gaining recognition in different parts of the country and because of this it is reaching a large audience of people who want to purchase it. For Auntie Uyel, she shared that even though they are making money out of their cloths, the sacredness of the T’Nalak is still very important for her. She said that weavers should make the T’Nalaks with patience just like before. They should be motivated to make it because of their passion, not because of the money that they could gain out of it. It is important for them to treat it with sacredness the same way before because it still needs to be passed to the next generation and it is part of their identity. Just like with how
they show respect to the Fu Dalu, the spirit of the abaca, they want to pass that belief to the next generation. They do not want to see the next line of weavers to not give importance to the abaca. What they want is to treat it with care and sensitivity like how they practice not to simply cut and throw the abaca. Today, what the LASIWWAI is aiming, is not just because of the economic enterprise out of weaving. What they want is to share to people that local and handmade products should be given more focus because it not just helps the T’Boli community’s livelihood but it also helps the nation gain recognition of what we really can offer. LASIWWAI proves that they are not just about women empowerment. They are about how they chose to stretch time by retaining their culture and identity in each of them in this modern age. ■
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Modern-day “sheroes”: empowered T’boli women weavers BY
Vanessa Duma-an
“If we didn’t give the unity of women a chance from the start, maybe we are not who we are and not where we are right now.” This is a statement by one of the empowered women weavers who found progress in doing what they do best in an organization that helped them grew. Weaving is a form of empowerment for the weavers of T’boli, South Cotabato. The inherited skill, passed down from generation to generation, has been their liberation from the gender inequality that their culture and tradition had been practicing for how many years now. Jenita Eko founded the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association, Inc. or LASIWWAI, with the main intention of helping other wom-
en find their voice and show them how much it matters in the society.
“When we were thinking about creating LASIWWAI, we thought about what to do to make the women stand out in this society and help the people,” Eko said. Eko then realized how women in their community was good at weaving and decided how much potential it actually has in store for them without the limits of gender discrimination. “That’s why we came up with weaving. Weaving is a very hard work, yet for women, it’s the only thing we can do best and weaving has no gender limitations,” Eko added. Before the organization was founded in 2001, T’boli culture allows monogamous marriages among men. In the event of a divorce, the woman is required to return the dowry twice as much and pay the penality.
Aside from this, women in the community were considered just housewives.
They weren’t given the chance to go out and had nothing to know about work outside their house. Chita Sulan, a barangay councilor in their community, shared how difficult life was before their organization was
Most indigenous people who had the chance to study outside the community almost always never returned to T’boli. Eko was the first to come back after earning her college degree and helped their locale.
founded. “My life before LASIWWAI was hard. There were no gatherings, no orientations, no leader for us women. We knew how to weave, but the problem was we weave individually,” Sulan relayed. The barangay councilor also shared how LASIWWAI helped her in her own growth as a women and an individual. “I’ve been with LASIWWAI for 17 years since it started. It helped and taught me to speak to people with positions with full confidence and without fear for our self-esteem was developed by the organization,” Sulan said. She shared how Eko, their president, gave them opportunities to speak with their visitors and by that, they learned to trust themselves and acknowledge their strength as women.
Now, LASIWWAI has helped a lot of kids to finish their studies by the help of the income they gained through their T’nalak production. Aside from this, they’re the only one who owns a potable water system in the whole barangay. They have a water resource conservation & management where they have an even distribution to barangays. They didn’t just rely on water for survival but also depended on it for their cultivation in their crops. Before LASIWWAI happened, the T’boli community in Lake Sebu couldn’t meet together because of their differing religions and beliefs. But LASIWWAI paved the way to meet them all together out of their love for weaving and after all, they’re one T’boli community. ■
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DENR and LASIWWAI for a greener, sustainable environment BY Darwin Deane Divino and Jason Christian Geralde
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has partnered with the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Inc. (LASIWWAI) for the Expanded National Greening Program (ENGP) which started on June this year. The program is a massive forest rehabilitation program of the government established on February 2011. In 2015, it was expanded to cover all the remaining unproductive, denuded and degraded forestlands, and its period of implementation is extended from 2016 to 2028. According to LASIWWAI founder and president Jenita Eko, they met with the DENR through the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU). “When we attended the ‘Oya Mindanao’ at AdDU, our friends from AdDU introduced us to the officials of the DENR. It is there they learned about us and what we do. So, in a way, we met them through the Ateneo,” Eko said. The president also said one of LASIWWAI’s
objectives is sustainable food production. “We took the challenge of the DENR to be their partner because it is in line with our objective for food security. Our men dig the land while the women plant them. We also have backyard gardening in the whole barangay,” she said. She believes that the ENGP came at a perfect time because they could learn more about food security. They could also learn about how to plant long-term crops which is in line with their newly revised plans on food security. Also, she proudly shared their traditional way of planting that does not need any fertilizers. They let the fallen leaves nourish the earth, then allow the sun and air to do their parts in plant growing. The greening program has been said to have helped their people in a a lot of ways. Not only did it give them better food security and protection, but it also gave their people jobs. “From what I know, before people were limited to planting short term crops like giant bamboos. But during Ma’am Gina’s time she said: that to avoid hunger, people should learn to maximize
the usage of the area. With the program at present, we are currently studying and observing if this mechanism is the right one so that the locals won’t have to keep on selling our ancestral lands to others,” Ma’am Jenita said. The DENR allots 2 million pesos to the organization every year for procurement of seedlings that are specified in the ENGP. Ma’am Jenita wishes that they could have documentations on the first year of their project because she wants it to serve as something that would set off as a good example to the community. She also notes that by the year 2018, DENR would shell off yet another 2 million pesos for them to use in the maximization of the greening project. “If we could maximize the use of that money, not only are we just giving the people more food to eat, we are also integrating good values with them,” Eko added. Above all, she not only believes that the documentation shows the things that they do in their community, but also believes that this could help in making
the people more aware of how valuable their ancestral lands are. She encourages everyone to take care of the lands. In the past year, Jenita Eko has been actively participating in expo’s at Davao City to further widen the awareness of the ENGP and their advocacy in protecting the environment. She gave thanks to Ateneo de Davao for their contributions that greatly helped them during their stay in Davao. In December they will be having an awards night that aims to acknowledge the hard work their community has exerted for this project. They will also give awards to those who performed best. She believes that the farmers deserve recognition for their hard work. As of the moment, Eko and the people of LASIWWAI continue to work towards pushing through a much greener and sustainable environment which will benefit the whole country in the future. ■
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Land of the Dreamweavers BY Vanessa Kyle Arabe and Nicole Peñanueva
October is the National Indigenous People’s Month, a time to appreciate our lumad brothers and sisters in yet another inculcation in remembering our civilization in Mindanao. Amid the existing ethos of Mindanao, however, one province shines in embarking its originality in the modern adjustment. Claimed to be the “Land of Dreamweavers”, South Cotabato is home to mainly T’Boli and Ubo tribes, paving a way to endorse the cultural and eco-tourism presence in Mindanao. This has introduced Lake Sebu into the picture, a first-class municipality in the province. With over 80,000 residents, Lake Sebu is blessed with a biodiversity that provides livelihood among the dwellers, and features waterfalls, springs, and rivers. Fortunately, it has been publicized as a tourist destination, playing a very important role in preserving its culture in the country – one of which is the art of weaving. T’nalak is a traditional craft of the T’boli tribe featuring the distinct patterns and color combinations on its woven cloth. It is significant to them, as their tradition
speaks. They said that their designs have been passed down through generations and come to the best weavers in dreams, brought to them by their ancestors. These weavings are one of the traditional properties exchanged at the time of marriage and is used as a covering during birth to ensure a safe delivery. As an indigenous novelty, the art making of the T’Nalak is now being preserved, and at the same time grown to consistency by
properties. As in the periphery of Lake Sebu, the LASIWWAI also aims to save the forest by partnering with DENR in pursuing such aptitudes. This includes the supplementation of planting materials in lieu of a proposed 120-hectare land project. During the 69th Ateneo Fiesta Celebration, LASIWWAI, with the accommodation of Arrupe Volunteers, put up a booth that sold Lake Sebu products like black rice, jewelries, instruments, and of course the
“We are very proud of the product that we produce because it’s uniquely our own.” some promising organizations like the LASIWWAI. The Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association Inc is a community-based organization of 85 T’Boli women weavers that aims to improve the T’Boli tribe through the contribution of skills in producing the likes of T’Nalak, as one of their few crafts. Their advocacy does not only limit the preservation of culture, but also opposes the destruction of ecological
T’Nalak cloth. Janita Eko studied BS Political Science and is a graduate of AdDU. Her aspirations in bringing the banner of women empowerment made her decide not to work in Manila. She also wanted the woman weavers of Lake Sebu to be recognized for their works. “Our expo product is T’nalak because we have doing that since then. And every now and then we received an invitation from the Mindanao Trade Expo,” she said. There have been two years
of excellent attention for LASIWWAI. In 2015, it was awarded as the Most Outstanding Volunteer Organization in Region XII, and in 2016, the group was included in the Top 10 Finalists in the BPI Foundation SINAG Accelerate Program, vying for the “Best Social Entrepreneur with a Social Mission” in the Philippines. It was a vivid experience for LASIWWAI to experience such awards and recognition, as it supplanted their esteem as an organization. However, Eko admitted that it was hard for the organization to cope financially. “We coordinated with AdDU because we needed someone from Davao to help us. The fairs are not much help if we do not have a free place to stay. We pay for the booth, food, and accommodation, so the only way the fairs can help us is if someone decides to sponsor us,” she stated. Not only did it encourage them to work harder, but it also gave them the perspective that they are not so different from society, and that they deserved to be recognized as part of the nation. And even if their monetary budget was limited, it never hindered them to pursue their goals successfully. ■
SPECIAL ISSUE: LAKE SEBU INDIGENOUS WOMEN WEAVERS ASSOCIATION, INC. (LASIWWAI)
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LASIWWAI Products Showcase BY
Danielle Alexis Rendon and Jannine Joyce Cartagena
The Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers Association, Inc. or LASIWWAI is a non-profit Community based organization comprised of 85 weaver-members, seeks to empower women by working on two top priority programs which is Peace and Multi-culturalism and Poverty Reduction. The organization elevates ikat weaving, not only as a source of livelihood for indigenous women, but also as an essential part of their indigenous culture. It is in line with the vision of empowering all T’nalak weavers through education. The T'boli are renowned for their fantasy enlivened and soul implanted T'nalak weavings, yet in addition for their weaving, metal throwing and different artworks. T'nalak weaving is a fine art idealized over many years of training by T'boli ladies, and just a modest bunch of ace weavers can be viewed as genuine 'dream weavers', crafted by whom are profoundly esteemed. The T'nalak Dream Weavers products looks to advance the reasonable exchange of conventional specialties of the T'boli Tribe, situated in Lake Sebu, in the Mindanao locale of the Philippines. One of the unique and fascinating components of T'boli culture is their Abaca texture known as T'nalak woven by their Dreamweavers. The products that was made from these abacca were wallets, coin purses for men and women and travel document holders which is unique with a beautiful pattern found in any T'nalak fiber were made deliberately by the weaver without utilizing any printed plan or example depending entirely on the mental picture of the weavers. The prices ranges to 25 to 150 pesos. Aside from the fabric, LASIWWAI also sells bracelet made of hard plant seeds from P10 to P50, ID sling made of beads for P150, necklaces made of beads from P100 to P1,200 depending on the designs and materials. Their brass bracelets are available for P100 while brass bells ranges from P175 to P1,200 depending on the size. Cordenillo said some of the local buyers buy in time for their children’s costume and props for their BuwanngWika culmination program at school. These products were inspired by their culture which made these products inspiring and sentimental.Also it was made because of its history .like the “Few Whistle” which is made of “kawayan” . Uniquely made by the Fathers of the T’boli tribe this was made just for fun and to create good music which can be sold for only 25 pesos. For every T’nalak cloth that you purchase, you are not only providing a source of livelihood for T’boli women but you are also giving the opportunity for a T’boli child to get early childhood education. Aside from women empowerment, proceeds of the T’nalak cloth support the LASIWWAI Learning Institute. The school is dedicated to develop and realize the potentials of every T’boli child through holistic education inculcating cultural integrity, leadership, and service to sustainable development. ■ SPECIAL ISSUE: LAKE SEBU INDIGENOUS WOMEN WEAVERS ASSOCIATION, INC. (LASIWWAI)
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