UPDATING PAKIL’S FOLK CRAFT
NCCA’s museum and resource center for traditional culture, Likha-an sa Intramuros, in the Puerta Real area of The Walled City, held an online lecture-demonstration session on the folk craft of pagkakayas or whittling of wood in the town of Pakil, Laguna
Engagements and activities for cultural education and promotions during this time of the coronavirus pandemic have shifted online, where one can interact or can be viewed within the confines of the home, like the now ubiquitous webinars and the streaming of films and theatrical shows.
On 10 October, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) museum and resource center for traditional culture, Likha-an sa Intramuros, in the Puerta Real area of historic The Walled City, held a lecture-demonstration session on the folk craft of pagkakayas or whittling of wood in the town of Pakil in Laguna Held in cooperation with the Intramuros Administration and the Office of Antique Representative Loren Legarda, the lecture-demonstration session, part of the Palihang Likha-an program, was streamed on Zoom and on Likha-an’s Facebook page.
Titled “Ang Sining ng Pagkakayas: A Lecture-Demonstration on the Art of Wood Whittling,” the lecture-demonstration featured Pakil’s traditional craftsman Desiderio Marabella, who showcased his skill and educated the public on the town’s unique folk craft.
Interestingly, Marabella and his late wife Conchita, who was also a magkakayas, were not Pakil natives hailing from the town of Ligao in Albay, they came to Pakil to work decades ago.
It is believed that a certain Domingo Isorena brought the craft to Pakil during the American colonial period. According to his granddaughter Susan IsorenaArcega, he was inspired by the whittlers of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf in the United States.
Marabella, now a kayas master, started on the craft in 1984, learning from Ramon Pasang, also a master who brought the craft to national attention during the Marcos regime.
It is believed that a certain Domingo Isorena brought the craft to Pakil during the American colonial period. According to his granddaughter Susan Isorena-Arcega, he was inspired by the whittlers of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf in the United States.
In the online session, Marabella made a number of designs out of whittled wood such as paruparo (butterfly), ibon (bird), peacock, bulaklak (flower), and pamaypay na may filigree at karugtong na ibon (filigreed fan with an attached bird). Among the wood species used in the pagkakayas are the lanite ( Wrightia pubescens), the endemic batikuling ( Litsea leytensis), kaytana (Indian prickly ash or Zanthoxylum rhetsa) and amlang, types that are soft and thus easier to shave. Marabella, as with other magkakayas in town, uses different types of knives in shaving the wood to achieve the desired design. He said he is more than willing to teach the craft to the younger generations, and luckily there are young Pakil residents who are still interested to learn this folk craft.
The introduction of the lecturedemonstration delved into the history of Pakil, which was established by the Franciscans in the early 18th century. It also presented the town’s most popular cultural landmarks and traditions — the parish church of San Pedro Alcantara; the devotion to Birhen ng Turumba or the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba; and the Turumba sa Birhen feast, an annual celebration in honor of the Virgin Mary, referred as Our Lady of Sorrows, which starts on Good Friday.