Folk Arts From Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region: Lesson 3

Lesson 3
Folk Arts from Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region
LAGUNA
Laguna is the home province of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. This lakeside province
is rich in natural resources and blessed with fertile soil for farming.
The Lagunense are proud of their wood carving in Paete. This town is dubbed as the Wood
Carving Capital of the Philippines. Most of the Paete motifs are floral and full of curves and
hooks which they call ukit.
Lumban is famous for its barong Tagalogs that are carefully woven by hands or
embroidered to perfection.
Other form of folk arts in Laguna are kayas and taka. Taka is a papier mache technique
while kayas is a type of art made by scrapping the softwood thriving in Sierra Madre Mountain
and make them into beautiful floral and faunal decorations.
RIZAL PROVINCE
Angono in Rizal province is the Arts Town of the Philippines. Two of the National Artists
hail from this town - Carlos Francisco for Painting and Lucio San Pedro for Music.
The town of Angono is home to many visual artists. The town is also famous for its
petroglyphs that are among the oldest artistic expressions in the Philippines and listed as a
national cultural treasure. These petroglyphs are said to exist since 3,000 BC.
Angono is also known for its Higantes Festival, a celebration conceptualized in 1980s by
Perdigon Vocalan. In the colonial times, the town folks make higantes, big papier mache of
human figures to air their sentiments about the Spanish hacienderos. The traditional higantes are
composed of a father, a mother and a child giant measuring four to five feet tall and usually seen
in fiesta celebrations to add fun and color. The higantes of Angono are made of papier – mache
which was probably influenced by Mexican art.
CAVITE AND TAAL, BATANGAS

Cavite is the most populous province in the country. From the land of tulisanes during the
Spanish time, Cavite is now the haven of foreign investors and for those who are looking for a
greener pasture.
Cavite is known for its Tinis in Kawit celebrated during Christmas season, the tradition
narrates the story how Joseph and Mary found a place to give birth to Jesus. Other important
tradition is Karakol dancing during fiesta 2 celebrations, the Lutrina or the Santacruzan of the
farmers. Art is often associated with food such as the colorful sapin-sapin - a type of delicacy
made from grounded glutinous rice, tilbok, putok, puto, kutsinta, and lansong.
According to some accounts, Taal was founded by Datu Balensuela (or Balensusa) and Datu
Dumangsil - two of the ten Bornean castaway datus. Currently, Taal is the cradle of Tagalog
cultute.
Taal, Batangas is popular for its embroidered pinya fabric made from the fibers of
pineapple. The silky but delicate fibers of pineapple are woven into a costly fabric for pinya
barong, wedding gowns, and other formal attires.
Taal is also the barong Tagalog and Balisong Capital of the Philippines. The Batangenos
take pride in their balisong - a type of knife that can be folded like a fan which comes in
different sizes. Balisong is also known as butterfly knife.
QUEZON
The town of Lucban in Quezon is famous for its Pahiyas Festival every May in honor to
San Isidro Labrador - the patron saint of the farmers. The festival is not complete without the
colorful kiping - 4 decors that are made from ground glutinous rice thinly coated on special
leaves and cooked over a low fire. These colored kipings are made possible by adding the
desired color into the kiping mixture.
Aside from Lucban, other municipalities have their own version of Pahiyas such as Pabitin,
San Isidrohan, Aranya, and many more.
BICOL REGION
Bicol region is known for its baskets, bags, slippers, coin purses and other crafts that are
made from abaca and raffia fibers. The abundance of these natural fibers in the region prompted
the Bicolanos to excel in weaving. Unlike the northern cultural communities, their motifs are
simple.
MARINDUQUE, MINDORO, AND ROMBLON
The island provinces of Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and

Romblon are known for fine baskets and mat weaving. For example, the Iraya Mangyan in
Mindoro are fond of making baskets with intricate patterns and designs of men, animals, trees,
and other objects. In Marinduque, mat weaving from buri or raffia plant is the popular craft.
They are also known for their Moriones Festival celebrated every Lenten season.
On the other hand, Romblon is known not only for its fine marble products but also for their
beautifully woven mats and bags out of romblon plant.
PAIÄWAN
Known as the country's last frontier, Palawan is rich cultural and natural diversity. The
Puerto Princesa Underground River is one of the recently recognized Seven Wonders of Nature
officially confirmed on January 28, 2012. This subterranean river runs 8.5 kilometers and is a
part of the Puerto Princesa National Park inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in
December 4, 1999. It is the longest underground river in the world and an important site for
ecological conservation and awareness.
Palawan is also known for its largest marine habitat the Tubbataha Reef located some 98
nautical miles at the heart of Sulu Sea. This marine sanctuary is fisted as one of the UNSCO
World Heritage Sites because of its fare and phenomenal rock formations, flora, and fauna.
Because it is literally surrounded by bodies of water, Palawan is popular for its diving areas,
hotels, resorts and some getaway amenities.
Arts and Crafts
It is said that the first inhabitants of Palawan are the Tagbanuas. There are two groups of
Tagabanuas in Palawan - each group speak a different language that belongs to Austronesian
Palawan language group. The Tagbanuas are believed to be the descendants of Tabon Man
and most civilized indigenous people to five in Palawan because they already have a writing
system that they used in communication. Similar to the Buhid and Hanuno scripts of
Mangyans in Mindoro, this ancient writing system can be the earliest attempt of the Filipinos
to document their own history.
The traditional Tagbanua attire is made from pounded bark of trees called salugin. In the
olden times, the men wear a piece of loin cloth and a rattan waistband called ambalad.
Basketry is an important craft in the province. The most important art piece from Palawan is
the Manunggul jar.

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Lesson 3

Folk Arts from Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region

CAVITE AND TAAL, BATANGAS

MARINDUQUE, MINDORO, AND ROMBLON

The island provinces of Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, and

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