LOCAL PRODUCTS

by: Chara Louise Joven

The Philippines is a place full of culture and history. It is blessed with delicious cuisine, unique shops, beautiful scenery, white sandy beaches, local products and friendly people. It is a great way to spend a dream vacation, but this article will focus more on the LOCAL PRODUCTS OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Local Products are products that are locally produced or made in the Philippines. There are a lot of variety of Local Products and originate in different parts of the Philippines.

List of LOCAL PRODUCTS that are found in the PHILIPPINES:

HABLON - ILOILO
BANIG - SAMAR
CAPIZ SHELLS - CAPIZ

HABLON

Hablon is a hand woven fabric used for clothes and tablecloths. It is taken from a Hiligaynon word “Habol” meaning “to weave”. Miagao is one of the towns in Iloilo that capitalized on its hablon industry. The cloth is made from various materials such as cotton, jusi (banana fiber), piña (pineapple fiber). Nowadays, it’s just mostly made from cotton and rayon thread. The skill of weaving is passed through generations since the 1950s. Older generation trains younger ones on weaving enabling them to produce fabrics. Moreover, they admitted that it is challenging producing a 5-meter Hablon in a day.

BANIG

Banig is a handwoven mat usually used in East Asia and Philippines for sleeping and sitting. This type of mat was traditionally made in the Philippines. Although has been more widely used too.The traditional art of mat weaving continues to flourish in the old town of Basey, Samar. The practice of this ancient art has been handed down from one generation to the next. The weavers are locally known as “paraglara” (usually women weavers). The paraglaras is said to practice and were taught the traditional mat weaving at an early age. It is believed that the people in Basey had been weaving mats long before the Spaniards came in the Philippines.

CAPIZ SHELLS

Capiz shells are shells that are found in a province in the Philippines called Capiz. A capiz shell, which is found on the coastal waters, is the outer shell of a marine mollusk. The shell is a flat, semi-transparent shell with a pearlescent appearance. The capiz shells are very important to the culture of the capiz people; it is the way that the people in capiz earn money. The shells are not endangered, so there are plenty of Capiz shells in the Philippines, and the government supports the harvesting of these shells.They have been used in the manufacture of decorative items such as chandeliers and lampshades. Capiz shells are usually seen in a souvenir shop.