Doom broom

Some native handicrafts from the Philippines seem to be quite prized abroad. The bilao used for removing residue husks in milled

rice and as packaging for takeout pansit sells for only P25 to P45 locally, but a version in the US used as home decor costs 333 times more.

American home furnishing company Pottery Barn sells the wall decor with a creative pitch that describes the round container as an “impressive woven art piece” that “adds warmth, texture and eclectic style wherever it’s hung.” Its website indicates the bamboo tray’s price at $299 or almost P15,000. In contrast, Amazon sells a 22-inch diameter bilao

for only $4 while Lazada’s offer is cheaper at P163 apiece.

Whether Pottery Barn is price gouging or simply adding the costs of import duty, freight and overhead of the supplier to its bilao’s price tag, the thing could make it to the Guinness World Record as the most expensive woven tray should anyone buy it.

Another Filipino handcrafted product that is trying to duplicate the bilao wall accent’s out-of-this-world pricing is the lowly broom made from so-called tiger grass or tambo. One online seller offers a $30 walis tambo.

In the Philippines, no one will buy it at the equivalent price of P1,500.

Even costlier than such a broom is Fil-Am Kene Brian Lazo’s buyboy, the Ilocano term for walis tambo. The maker of Lazo’s broom from either Nueva Ecija or La Union should be proud as their product was perhaps the only walis tambo to ever make it to the US Capitol housing the US Congress and American history courtesy of the resident from Norfolk, Virginia.

The buyboy, if ever Lazo decides to auction it, should probably fetch at least $1,000 for being a collector’s item after he brought it illegally to the Capitol building on 6 January. But the real cost of the broom to him is the litigation expenses as he defends himself against charges of disrupting a session of the US Congress and disorderly conduct in a federal building, among other offenses.

The main charges stemmed from his participation in the storming of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters to prevent lawmakers from declaring Joe Biden as the winner of the November US presidential election.

Adding to Lazo’s cost is the monetary penalty. Even if he pleads guilty to the charges, he can be fined $2,000 like another Capitol trespasser after a plea bargain last week. The storming of the Capitol caused about $1.5 million in damages, according to police.

If worse comes to worst, Lazo’s incriminating walis tambo also will cost him his freedom with the long prison term in case of conviction.

Lazo can only blame himself for taking a selfie inside the Capitol with his buyboy and posting incriminating messages and the photo on his Facebook page which helped the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to identify him. A concerned citizen tipped the FBI of the walis tambo carrier’s Facebook name — Fam Council — and federal agents, through a court order, had the social media reopen the deactivated account to obtain Lazo’s posts.

With goggles on, Lazo couldn’t be recognized in the selfie photo. However, his helmet with the name of his company printed on it gave him away. In a post on 4 January, he also told someone that he “will be the only one with a boi boi representing Asians,” according to an affidavit.

Investigators further obtained calls between Lazo’s wife and a cell site serving the Capitol compound on 6 January to strengthen the evidence against him.

Lazo of the infamous walis tambo

just may find himself cleaning the floor of a federal prison.