"Who would have thought that today, their pasture became greener by keeping the inheritance manifested through their weaving skills."

[LA PAZ, ABRA, PHILIPPINES] ▬ The cultural immersion I am experiencing in Abra seemed to never stop. After checking out the local products of Abra in the padaya trade fair, I've learned interesting new things, one of them is the weaving industry of Abra. Colorful fabrics called abel were featured in the padaya. But the search for learning doesn't end there because we're going to visit a village known to be the source of these abel products.

[LA PAZ] ▬ ABEL WEAVER OF BULBULALA, LA PAZ, ABRA

is known to be the source of the woven fabric called abel Iloko like this one woven in Abra. On how abel weaving started in Bulbulala, La Paz is a very interesting story I've discovered as told by a descendant of the original abel weavers who introduced this art in Bulbulala.

However, aside from abel weaving, Abra also has its own distinct traditional weaving done by the Itneg tribes which is different from the Ilocano's abel in terms of design, concept and purpose. But for this post, I will focus on the abel done in Bulbulala.

En Route to Bulbulala

For first-time visitors to Bulbulala, reaching the place is quite a challenge. Although there are road signboards showing the direction to Brgy Bulbulala, you might still need the help of some people to find your directions so I would suggest to hire a tricycle driver who is knowledgeable of the place.

Asking directions from the right person is alright. But for our version of this trip, there was a twist. It was spiced with some unexpected adventures not normally done along the way.

[LA PAZ] ▬ UNEXPECTED ROAD OBSTACLE TO BULBULALA

We were lucky that someone drove us to Bulbulala. However, the road leading to the village was closed for construction. But we didn't give up the search for the village. We used another route instead which is twice farther than the regular route.

We passed through narrow farm-to-market roads and a river. Good thing the river was shallow so we decided to cross it in the name of traveling. We didn't expect that we'll be encountering this kind of situation along the way. We survived the route and reached the village by asking direction from people we met along the way.

Bulbulala: a Village of Loom Weavers

Knowing that we've reached the weaving village safely was a breath of fresh air. The village is situated in a hilly terrain. The locals provided much help in finding our way to the house of a certain Naty Quiday, the most popular household name in the village in terms of abel making.

[LA PAZ] ▬ FOOT WORKS IN WEAVING

[LA PAZ] ▬ ANOTHER LOOM WEAVER IN THE VILLAGE

[LA PAZ] ▬ THREADS OF VARIOUS COLORS

[LA PAZ] ▬ ORANGE THREAD

[LA PAZ] ▬ CAREFULLY EXAMINING THE THREAD

The contact person we were looking for wasn't around because according to one of her helpers, she often travels to showcase her craft to different trade fairs in the Philippines. According to some people we met, the weaving center we've just entered employs women from the community to meet the demands for the product. Leila's loom weaving is the name of the center and it is the largest in the village. However, there are also other households who do the pinagabel.

How Loom Weaving Started in Bulbulala? The Ilocos-Abra Connection

A man introduced himself to us as one of the owners of the loom weaving center. I can't exactly remember his name but he is very closely related to Naty Quiday. Ever since I've learned that there are also abel weavers (agab-abel) in Abra, I've been very curious how this old-age industry (pinagabel) started here. Upon knowing that their surname is "Quiday," a hypothesis suddenly popped out my mind on how the weaving started in the village so I have to ask the man to confirm if my theory is true.

[LA PAZ] ▬ SELFIE-ING WITH MR QUIDAY, A DESCENDANT OF THE ORIGINAL WEAVERS IN BULBULALA

My theory goes this way: In , one can tell where is your hometown (or the hometown of your ancestors at least) basing on the first letter of your surname. In Ilocos Sur, the original settlers of each town have surnames that start with the same letter. Like in the case of the town of , original settlers here have surnames starting with letter "P" (Paa, Patubo, Pala-Pala, Pardo, Parilla, Pe Benito, Paroligan, Palpallatoc, Palacpac, Paz, etc). The same with the municipality of wherein surnames start with letter "B" (Bagorio, Bello, Balatico, Balallo, Brillo, Bueno, Benavidez, Bielza, etc) and many more.

In the case of the town of , their surnames start with letter "Q" (Remember Pres. Elpidio Quirino? He's from Caoayan town.) and this town is known to be the home of the best and most number of abel weavers in Ilocos Sur (sadly, the number of weavers is decreasing gradually now). Most weavers from Vigan actually live near Caoayan-Vigan boundary.

[LA PAZ] ▬ PARDON THE WATERMARK, THIS IS IN LA PAZ, NOT BANGUED

Basing on Mr Quiday's surname plus the weaving skills his family has, I was confident to tell him that he is not an original settler of Bulbulala and he must have come from Caoayan. The man smiled and confirmed that my theory is true. He told me that he has a lot of relatives in Caoayan and Vigan, the hometown of his grandparents who migrated in Abra in search for arable land for living. Carrying the bloodline and culture of abel weaving from Caoayan, they settled in Bulbulala and continued the learning they inherited from their Ilocano ancestors. Caoayan is one little coastal town at the mouth of Abra River.

During the old times, people sail via the Abra River to reach the province of Abra. For the ancestors of Mr Quiday, they've found a green pasture in Bulbulala but they did not forget the art they learned from their forefathers.

[LA PAZ] ▬ ABEL WEAVING IS NOW A LIVELIHOOD IN ABRA

Who would have thought that today, their pasture became greener by keeping the inheritance manifested through their weaving skills. It's not all about the arable land now. It's about the weaving.

Ending Thoughts: Preserving a Tradition

The tradition of pinagabel is on its glory days. The demand for this fabric is getting high as more people are getting aware of the existence of these textiles. Unlike other arts and crafts on the brink of extinction, the best is yet to come for abel Iloko.

[LA PAZ] ▬ WEAVING THE WHITE THREAD

[LA PAZ] ▬ INSIDE LEILA'S LOOM WEAVING

According to Mr Quiday, most of the weavers here [now] are migrants (usually women who married a man from Bulbulala). These female migrants learned this art in Bulbula for their living - some are already employed by the weaving center in the village. For these abel weavers, the life in weaving might be a bumpy road, but this road can still lead them to their destination - a place for success and prosperity.

We left Bulbulala satisfied. We witnessed the beautiful sunset on our way home and I'm excited to share to you where have I seen it. ▬ to be continued...

[UP NEXT] ▬ YOU'LL LOVE THIS SUNSET TOO.

► ABRA MARCH 2015 TRAVEL SERIES

Abra has no beach. This river serves as a summer getaway. The sunset here is unique. It represents Abra's distinct landscape. Hang on for Part 4.

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► FOOTNOTES, DISCLAIMERS, ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ETC

[1] Big thanks to Abra Vice Governor, Hon Chari Bersamin, for inviting us to witness the Kawayan Festival 2015. With me is Estan Cabigas of langyaw.com.

[2] The map I used below is courtesy of Eugene Villar on Wikipedia. Source: 1 | 2

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