CEBU, Philippines – Brooms are powerful objects in the fantasy world as well as in real life. In Paknaan, a coastal barangay in the highly urbanized city of Mandaue in Cebu, hundreds of families believe in the power of the broom to provide for their daily needs and perhaps whisk them away from poverty.
One such believer is 55-year-old Elizabeth Tobiano, who said that her meager earnings from making soft brooms enabled her to send all her eight children through high school. Tobiano has been supporting herself and her children for more than 10 years after separating from her common-law husband in 2013. She lives in a makeshift house where she makes soft brooms while tending to her small sari-sari store at a temporary relocation site in Barangay Paknaan.
Like many men and women in Paknaan, Tobiano makes a living assembling brooms. She earns about P1,000 for every 400 brooms she completes in two or three weeks. The orders depend on her buyer who also supplies the materials. Tobiano, however, has to pay the fee of the buri fiber preparers.
Times have been tough with labor cost rising, said Tobiano. “Pero mao ra gyud ni ako nahibaw-an na panginabuhi unya tiguwang na sad ko,” she added. (But it’s the only skill I have and I am too old to find other means of livelihood.)
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The gathering of buri petioles and the extraction of the fiber are handled by male workers. The buri petioles, cut to the preferred length, are transported from mountainous areas in Liloan and Compostela in northern Cebu. The petioles are soaked in seawater ponds in Paknaan up to a month to soften the material. When deemed soft enough, male workers beat the buri petioles with a short wooden paddle to separate the fibers.
Edmer Cosino and Arnel Montebon both work in the buri ponds in Paknaan. They get paid about P40 per bundle of buri fibers. They strive to prepare 10 bundles a day. Often, they work alongside young boys, trying to earn a few pesos for their school needs.
The buri fiber preparation requires strength and grit. Workers line up the petioles in waist-deep murky water that has a vinegary smell. There’s hardly any shade except for a few mangrove trees. Some of the workers have put up makeshift roofs from discarded tarpaulin signage to provide shade when they beat the buri petioles.
“Medyo hapdos ang tubig pero naanad na mi,” Cosino said. “Makawala gyud nig kagid diri,” he added partly in jest. (The water stings our skin a little but we’re used to it. This water can remove skin diseases.)
Montebon said he worked for 12 years as a construction worker. He prepares the buri fiber between jobs. “Mas mayo pa ni kaysa construction,” he said. (Work here is better than in construction.)
Most buri preparers work only in the morning, which is advantageous for high school students who need to attend class in the afternoon. “Pero mo-absent nalang ko kung magkalisud,” said Edgar, a grade 10 student whose real name is withheld upon request. (Sometimes I would just skip school.)
Emilia Mangubat, manager of Paknaan Multipurpose Cooperative, said broom-making provides livelihood for those with limited options. “Dangpanan ang paghimo og silhig sa katong wala na’y lain nga pangita. Dali makat-onan ug maka-income gyud ka kung mokugi lang,” she said. (Broom-making is often the last livelihood option because it is a skill that can be learned easily and those who work hard can really make a living out of it.)
Emilia and husband Diosdado “Metong” Mangubat, a barangay councilor, employs four people — also Paknaan residents — who make brooms on the ground floor of their two-storey house. The Mangubats sell the brooms wholesale to contacts in Manila and Iloilo.
Emilia and Diosdado learned to make brooms from their parents. The couple could not recall how broom-making became a major livelihood of Paknaan residents, but, as far as they can remember, their parents and other families have been making soft brooms for buyers in Metro Manila, other parts of the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The Mangubats maintain four subcontractors who produce semi-finished brooms. Finishing touches of securing the brush to the handle with plastic and rubber strips, trimming the brush, and dying are done at the Mangubat workshop. The couple also have their own buri soak pond and hire buri fiber preparers on a per job basis.
Paknaan’s broom-making industry faces several threats. There are no efforts to improve the supply of buri that according to Emilia grows on its own, probably from bird droppings. Several broom-makers live on evacuation or temporary relocation sites and may be affected by the construction of a fourth bridge connecting Mandaue to Mactan Island.
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Orders from other provinces have also dropped. Emilia said that they used to ship brooms to Iligan and other families also supply Davao. But those buyers have not contacted them for some time.
Paknaan Barangay Captain Marissa Tecling said that the local government is looking at various ways to promote the brooms. She said they hope that showcasing the product and the livelihood activity in the Silhig Festival can increase sales.
“Lig-on baya gyud ning silhig sa Paknaan. Sobrahan gani ka lig-on na dugay ma-ilisan,” she said. (Brooms made in Paknaan are sturdy, too sturdy that customers don’t see the need to buy new ones.)
Broom-makers are hopeful that God and the government will not forsake them. Tobiano believes the government will make sure she and her neighbors will not be lose their homes.
“Dako akong pagsalig sa Ginoo nga dili mi pasagdan. Kay wala man gani niya pasagdi ang mga langgam, gipaniguro niya naa sila makaon, sila pa gyud ang magpugas sa mga liso sa buri aron naay magamit sa paghimo sa silhig (I believe God will not abandon us. He even makes sure the birds have food, the same birds that spread the seeds of the buri),” she said.
The Silhig Festival was held on February 9 to celebrate the feast of the Sto. Niño, marked by street dancing by Paknaan’s youth clad in costumes and bearing brooms as props. – Rappler.com