by Miriam G. Desacada
Home products such as baskets, mats, hammocks, fans, lamps and table decors, among others—made of native materials—and recently fashion accessories such as brooches, pins, bracelets, and necklaces, among others—also made of native materials, are now the trending handicrafts being produced by artisans of the third district of Leyte.
Representative Anna Veloso (3rd district, Leyte), who spearheaded the organization of these artisans into a group, Uswag Artesano, which is also the brand name of the products, said the production of these handicrafts are “fueled by the creative and entrepreneurial spirit distinct to the artisans of Leyte.”
The products are made of indigenous materials—bamboo, rattan, abaca, pandan, anahaw, corn husks, and banana—sourced from where it is abundant, in the towns of Villaba, Tabango, San Isidro, Leyte, and Calubian, all in the 3rd district. The artisans are from these places as well, said Veloso.
The female legislator said: “through our bobo-inspired lamps, chicken brood of candle holders, amakan curtains, leafy abaca forest and baskets (to name a few) that double as interactive art installations, we hope to give you a glimpse of the 3rd district.”
Veloso termed these products as “Sacred Ordinary” or “visual narratives retold by our craftsmen and artisans to represent the district’s heritage, history, and culture.”
Veloso said Uswag is a Karay-a term for improvement and advancement. In intangible heritage parlance, it means enrichment.” And the artisans’ way of enriching the heritage and culture of the district is to utilize the indigenous materials abundant in the district, and crafting the products with designs that also reflect the district’s cultural identity.
Uswag Artesano started with 54 male craftsmen or artisans, identified to qualify under the tutelage of the government’s Design Center. Veloso’s district office put up an initial outlay for the production cost to get the project off the ground. The center also provided the artisans with indigenous designs to consider.
The handicraft making started with home collection first—baskets, bags, mats and hammocks of different sizes and made of anahaw, rattan, nito, and bamboo—and then expanded to date the product line into fashion accessories also made of indigenous materials, said Veloso.
“We had our first design collections in 2021 using the materials from the district we identified during the cultural mapping. Later we went into fashion products,” said the young legislator.
Identifying the sources of materials was done with cultural mapping. “From there we were able to identify more artisans in the district and we were able to see what they are capable of doing. We match them with government institutions like the Design Center, and the DTI-Leyte,” she said.
“We also got weavers from Baybay City (of the fifth district) to teach our artisans with their own ways of making better products,” Veloso said, adding that the artisans earn income between P6,000 and P10,000 per month from market sales. “They set the price of their products,” she said.
Veloso expounds: “Our artisans are the repositories of traditional ways of weaving, crafting, repurposing, and reinventing. Through Uswag, we endeavor to create alternative sources of income for our artisans by inspiring them to create products that are good for our people and the environment.”
The craftsmen are farmers and fisherfolk by trade, revealed the congresswoman. She added: “Livelihood generated through Uswag also extends to suppliers of the native materials like bamboo, rattan, abaca, pandan, sig-id, and batang-batang.”
Veloso is optimistic that the market reach of Uswag’s products will go beyond the district’s, or even provincial’s, borders. She said the project is a sustainable one for the district’s economy and those of the artisans, and her constituents as well. —-Miriam G. Desacada