A day's work at Sampaloc Weaving Center. Mary Jane Callejo with fellow weaver Lanie Derecho. Photo courtesy of Mary Jane Calleja
SAMPALOC, Quezon — Buli palm leaf weaver Mary Jane Abcede Callejo, 53, speaks in a slow, soft, hushed voice, like someone, as they say, who couldn’t hurt a fly.
It’s something expected from a weaver since childhood because the creative process demands focus and steady composure, otherwise the handcrafted product suffers. It is also almost like meditation, the way our elders are doing cross-stitches in their pastime.
Down south, Filipinos are known for t’nalak handicrafts made by “dream weavers” of Lake Sebu, Cotabato, which use abaca fiber. Up north, tourism promotion wouldn’t be complete without seeing the inabel weavers in the Ilocos region, which use colored cotton threads.
One of Quezon province’s best-kept secrets is the green, clean, hilly town of Sampaloc that is known for its world-class buli baskets, hand bags, hats, wallets, slippers, tampipi suitcases and place mats.
Buli belongs to the Corypha utan species whose leaves are characterized by fan-shaped fronds. In the Philippines, buli trees have the largest leaves, which make them perfect for weaving. The fruit can also be cooked for sweet dessert, like sago.
Callejo, who has been a buri weaver for the past 46 years, is a native resident of this peaceful town nestled on a valley near the ridges of Sierra Madre and the foot of Mount Banahaw in Quezon province.
Sampaloc sits on the border of Quezon and Laguna. In Quezon, its immediate neighbors are the towns of Lucban and Mauban and further down south, the cities of Tayabas and Lucena. In Laguna, it is nearest to the towns of Luisiana and Cavinti.
The town proper is surrounded by hills and compared with low-lying seaside towns in Quezon, which are many since one side of the province faces the Pacific Ocean and the other side stretches along Tayabas Bay, Sampaloc is ideal for artistic pursuits because of its cool weather and quiet surroundings.
Based on the town’s website, the highest point of elevation above sea level is 548 meters or 1797.9 feet, located in the mountainous terrain of Barangay Caldong. World-acclaimed filmmaker Lav Diaz has been a resident at the town proper since 2022 and has shot four of his recent films there, most especially in the said barangay during the rainy season.
Cut and sun-dried buri leaves ready for coloring at the Sampaloc Weaving Center; (right) a tourist trying out an unfinished buri hat. Photo by Totel de Jesus
For decades, buli palms have grown in abundance in Sampaloc and buli products have been one of the main sources of income for its residents called Sampalukins.
They are being sold in malls, trade fairs and online outlets like Shopee and Lazada (though with different names and labels, depending on the resellers). They are also brought by balikbayans and entrepreneurs for export or gifts for friends and relatives abroad.
For Sampalukins, it’s a tradition that has been handed down to generations and like most weavers, Callejo learned the skill from her parents.
“During my younger years, almost all women were into weaving. Young and old in most neighborhoods were buri weavers. We had buyers and resellers from other towns,” she told ABS-CBN News.
“When I was studying in grade school, I produced a lot of buri products because I get my extra allowance from that. Buli weaving was also part of our home economics class and from what we produced, we get another extra income,” she added.
“I continued earning from buli weaving until I was studying college in Lucban, at SLPC (Southern Luzon Polytechnic College, now called Southern Luzon State University). I sold buri bags and hats to my classmates, teachers, some resellers,” she said.
Callejo graduated with a forestry degree. After graduation, she chose to work for her parents, who once ran a carinderia in the town proper. On the side, she never stopped weaving.
About two decades ago, when cell phones, the internet and social media started creeping in and the younger generations were easily swept away by the trend, buri weaving became a dying industry in Sampaloc.
Only the older ones were into it and Callejo was among the few who continued.
Mary Jane Callejo demonstrating weaving techniques during a workshop for students on the first day of Bulihan Festival
“Since there were less and less Sampalukins who were into weaving, there were also people who unabashedly cut down buli plants and replaced them with fast-yielding fruit trees and vegetables,” Callejo told ABS-CBN News.
In 2011, the local government of Sampaloc stepped in to save the dying industry by starting the Bulihan Festival. Callejo was tapped to give workshops and supervise a team of weavers.
“At the time, talagang pawala na. That’s why there’s the Bulihan Festival, which continues to showcase and promote our buri products,” she said.
Since there was a need for buli leaves, the cutting of these native palm trees was stopped and planting more seeds were facilitated.
The Department of Labor and Employment provided funds to build the Sampaloc Sewing and Weaving Center in 2013. It was initially located at a vacant space on the second floor of Sampaloc Public Market. In the same year, Callejo was hired as a full-time employee.
Now, Sampalukins could learn the craft, avail of weaving materials and sell their finished products. Most were, as the gig economy would term them now, freelancers.
In 2020, through the help of various government agencies, a one-story spacious concrete structure was constructed at Barangay Banot, where the center still stands up to now. The KUMARI Weavers Association was also established. KUMARI is an acronym for Kababaihang Umaaksyon para sa Maunlad At Responsableng kapwa kababaihang may Integridad, which if loosely translated in English means “women who act for other progressive and responsible women with integrity.”
Sampaloc Weaving and Sewing Center. Photo by Mary Jane Callejo
Sewing machines and raw materials at Sampaloc Weaving Center. Photo by Totel de Jesus
At the center, Callejo was designated as Livelihood Coordinator for Buli Products.
Summer time, she told us, is the best season to dry up the leaves.
“After three days under the sun, they are good for the coloring process, which takes only 30 minutes. To be safe, from the time we harvest the leaves, in a week’s time, we can use them for weaving,” Callejo said.
They use food coloring solutions. She mentioned the brands Neco and Atkinson. “I used to buy them in Lucban and Lucena City. For bulk orders, I used to go to Divisoria to buy these coloring materials but nowadays, I can order them online sa Shopee.”
These days, there are a lot of part-time weavers who would get the dried, cured and colored buli palm leaves and bring them home to finish the handcrafted bags, hats and the like.
They have their own designs. Soon, orders came from resellers in neighboring towns. “The resellers would sometimes bring the designs they wanted and we make sure to satisfy them with what they require,” she added.
The annual fiesta is now on its 15th year and still being celebrated every third week of April.
Bulihan Festival in Sampaloc, Quezon forges on despite scaled-down activities
“Not only the weavers are being benefited but the designers as well. That’s why, instead of cancelling the festival this year after the directive from the national government due to the energy crisis, we continued but with less activities. Occasions like fiesta, ito lang yung time of the year na meron silang malaking income,” Sampaloc Mayor Niko Devanadera told ABS-CBN News.
Mary Jane Callejo, leftmost, conducting buri weaving workshop at Sampaloc Amphitheater. Photo from Mayor Nikko Devanadera FB page
On April 23 during the recent Bulihan Festival, there was a daylong trade fair at the municipal park where buli products were sold. Since it’s summer, the hats were the first ones to get sold out.
“Customers love the design of the colorful hats. They sold quickly. Hats are harder to make, probably two days. For a hand bag, it would take the whole day. Wallets are the easier to make, just an hour or two,” Callejo said.
Mayor Devanadera added whenever there are requests from other towns to give workshops on weaving, the local government of Sampaloc willingly accommodates them at the center. Most cases, they send Callejo to the other local government units to facilitate the workshops.
At the weaving center, there are around 30 part-time weavers and three regular weavers namely Tessie Diaz, Lanie Derecho and Adore Dador. Callejo said she and Diaz are almost of the same age while Derecho and Dador are senior citizens.
“Yung mga part-timers, sa mga bahay lang ginagawa then binabayaran namin sa center kung ano matapos nila. Karamihan galing Barangay Alupay, Ilayang Owain at Bilucao. Sa buong Sampaloc, sa tingin ko mga lampas isandaan ang nag-lalala (The part-timers, they finish weaving at home then we buy their products at the Center, whatever they finished. Most of them came from Barangay Alupay, Ilayang Owain at Bilucao),” she said.
“The age range is from 30 to 40 years old. Nowadays, at least, kahit papano, there’s a new generation taking over,” Devanadera pointed out.
“Meron din naman taga ibang lugar, nakapag asawa ng taga rito, natuto rin. Lately, may nakita kami na nabibili sa SM, nakikita ko rin sa online stores sa Shopee, kilala namin naman po pag yari sa amin, lalo na yung binili ng mga taga Lucban at Louisiana, nilalagyan lang nila ng sariling tatak (There are also people from other towns who married Sampalukins and learned buri weaving. Lately, we saw buri products being sold at an SM mall and online stores. We know they’re bought by resellers from our town, especially those being sold in Luisiana and Lucban),” Callejo said.
Buri hand bags and other products at Sampaloc Weaving Center and Souvenir Shop. Photo by Totel V. de Jesus
We asked Callejo how does she recognize the designs are from them, especially those sold online.
“Kumpara ‘yung buli namin. Mas maganda ang gawa ng Sampaloc (Compared with others, Sampaloc has more beautiful and durable designs),” she said with a smile.
She’s proud to say that Puni de Malolos, a social enterprise composed of palm weavers based in Malolos, Bulacan that also give trainings to interested groups and individuals on palm leaf weaving, gets buri materials and products from them.
“Dito sila na-order ng mga accessories,” she said.
This writer also experienced how far-reaching the Sampaloc buli products have become. In February 2024, during the Cultural Center of the Philippines outreach program in Tagum City for the annual Pasinaya Festival, there were souvenirs from Mindanao given to delegates from Visayas and Luzon.
There were necklaces made up of seashells, small handy wooden musical instruments, Pasinaya T-shirts, pens, notebooks, keychains and the like all put together in—as we call them-- loot bags. They were colorful handcrafted bags. When I asked some CCP people and representatives of the local tourism office where did they got the buri loot bags, they told me they’re from Sampaloc, Quezon. There was a sense of pride in me since I am a Quezonian, though I’m from another town.
When I had the chance to visit for the first time the Sampaloc Weaving Center in December last year as part of the media tour during the Sampaloc Film Festival, I saw the same familiar designs.
‘Sine Sampaloc’ in Quezon province nourishes local film culture
As we mentioned in our earlier story, Callejo conducted a one-day workshop for high-school students from participating schools in Sampaloc on April 20, the first day of the Bulihan Festival.
“It’s time we develop the interest among the younger generations because they are the ones who will take over,” said Mayor Devanadera.
“Even my children, I teach them at home,” Callejo said.
Participating high school students during the weaving workshop with Mary Jane Callejo, seated leftmost, and Sampaloc Mayor Nikko Devanadera, sixth seated from left. Handout
We asked her what would be her message to the younger generations of Sampalukins.
“Matutong lumalala, paghirapan ‘yung pambili ng load, hindi aasa sa bigay ng magulang (Learn how to weave. Earn something so you can buy load for your phones on your own and you don’t ask money from your parents),” she said, laughing.
For everyone, she recommends weaving because it’s very relaxing. She can actually do it without even looking at what she’s weaving. “For others, I recommend to try weaving instead of overthinking. Hindi sya nakaka-inip. Minsan nga sa inuman, tradisyon ng ilang kababaihan, pag may lala, may tagay ng lambanog (It won’t bore you. Once in a while, it has become a tradition for some women weavers to drink up while weaving. If you weave, you take a shot of lambanog),” she said, with more laughter.
She and the Sampaloc weavers are busy again these days because, as of this writing, aside from orders from resellers, they are gearing up for their booths at the Mayohan Pyesta in Lucban and Tayabas City.
With the unrelenting support of the local government and the likes of Callejo at the helm, buli weaving industry will continue to flourish in Sampaloc and Quezon province as well.