Lanelle Abueva-Fernando is a Filipino potter who specializes in handmade stoneware ceramics. She currently produces stoneware ceramics for hotels, restaurants, and companies, both local and overseas. She has also had numerous solo and group exhibits.
After graduating with a Certificate in Fine Arts from the University of the Philippines Diliman, Lanelle moved to Japan with her family. Here, she fell in love with ceramics, seeing it used in different styles at various museums. Lanelle eventually apprenticed with a potter in Hachijojima Island for three years, crafting ceramics under the guidance of a sensei.
A full Japanese apprenticeship takes seven years. But excited to work on her own, Lanelle decided to transfer to the US, where she continued her studies at a one-year ceramics program at Sun Valley Center for the Arts in Idaho. The experience was completely different. In Japan, the learning method was strict and structured; meanwhile, in the US, she was granted the freedom to craft whatever she wanted.
According to Lanelle, her current rustic but refined style has been shaped by the mix of cultures she’s worked with, as well as her personal experiences and the people she’s met along the way.
After the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, Lanelle also started to incorporate volcanic ash glaze into her pieces. It’s a technique she learned from her apprenticeship in Hachijojima, a volcanic island itself. She also partnered with EVA Charity Foundation which supports the indigenous Aeta tribes in Central Luzon. At the time, the organization was helping those displaced by the eruption.
In 1981, Lanelle opened her own pottery studio. Ten years later, she moved to Antipolo City where Crescent Moon Cafe and Studio Pottery, a restaurant, bar, and creative space that houses her own pottery studio, stands.
Chris first noticed Lanelle’s work from the IG feed of Malagos Chocolate, a Philippine tree-to-bar chocolate maker. He reached out to them and Jen Puntespina directed him to Lanelle.
Lanelle worked with Filo Artisan Trade to create exquisite mugs named after the three varieties of cacao: Criollo, Trinitario, and Forastero. The design was inspired by Filo Artisan Trade’s logo, which was conceptualized in collaboration with Filipino design firm PINO Studio in 2019.
After discussions about the specifications, Lanelle crafted the mugs in her Antipolo studio. According to her, “all stoneware ceramics are handmade and hand-glazed, thus no two pieces are exactly alike.”
Each mug is engraved with “2020” at the bottom, a mark of the year the mug was made. It serves as a reminder of a year that brought immense challenges and difficulties, from a global pandemic to three super-typhoons in the Philippines—and how each person exhibited the resilience to come out of it stronger than before, a trait Filipinos have famously shown in countless times of crises.
Just like the mugs, 2020 moulded us into the people who we are today. It helped us put things in perspective, so we could chip off the rough edges. And after a stint in the fire, we came out as better people.
We hope that the Filipino Artisan Mugs reminds us that despite the worst of experiences, we can choose to come out with something beautiful: lessons and memories that are worth keeping.
You can take home your very own one-of-a-kind artisan mug from Filo Artisan Trade. We deliver Australia-wide or you can opt to pick up your order in Caroline Springs, Melbourne.
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As a UNESCO Creative City for Crafts and Folk Arts, Baguio strengthens the creative economy through the Mandëko Kito Artisanal Market the runs from June 15 to 20, 2021, at Berkeley International School. The arts and crafts fair is a project of the Baguio Arts and Crafts Collective, Inc. (BACCI) and is held twice a year in the City of Pines. Every year, BACCI invites other regions to participate in sharing their local crafters’ best.
BACCI launched Mandëko Kito to support creative entrepreneurs during the COVID pandemic and is a symbol of solidarity for artisans while pushing the artistry and design innovation of the Cordilleras forward. For Mandëko Kito’s third run, BACCI coordinated with 32 participating local artists, artisans, crafters, and food entrepreneurs from Baguio, Benguet, Mt. Province, Pangasinan, and Sagada. Anyone who comes to visit will be welcomed by this trove of handmade crafts and art from silver craft, pottery, custom-designed shirts, woodcarving, weaving, bamboo craft, knitting, and artisanal food, among others.
Mandëko Kito means “Let’s sell.” With that said, the fair has become a way for creative entrepreneurs to share their creativity and innovation while helping them bounce back and continue their journey to building a thriving business. Because of this advocacy, Mandëko Kito is a catalyst for the inclusivity of creativity. It has also become a good market for local artisans.
Everything the exhibitors have on display is vetted so you get nothing short of the best premium handmade products that reflect a cherished sentiment: “Anything handmade is made with love.” Anyone who visits can talk with the crafters and artisans to get to know their stories.
The individual stories and narratives behind each product are just as important and interesting as the product themselves. With such a strong sense of community, each conversation or purchase will contribute to someone’s livelihood and instantly bring a smile to someone’s face.
Mandëko Kito is a platform for artisans to showcase and sell premium crafts and arts that everyone can enjoy. Investors can meet with local artisans and find potential products that can penetrate high-value crafts’ local and international markets. Filo Artisan Trade is currently working with some of the artisans so we can make their crafts available in Australia.
The Mandëko Kito Artisanal Market is a creative space where people can discover the beauty of local artistry and design innovation while elevating the status of the creative economy.
For more information on the Mandëko Kito Artisanal Market, you can visit their official Instagram and Facebook accounts.
About the Writer: Kaye Leah Sitchon is the first prize winner for the Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards 2020 for her essay, "Sinanglaw for Breakfast." She is a communications instructor at Saint Louis University, Baguio City, a freelance content writer for various websites, as well as an editor and module developer for REX Publishing (REX Bookstore). She describes herself as “passionate about the written word.”
]]>Tablea refers to "a ball of ground-up cacao beans" molded into tablet-like rounds. It is made from cacao beans, the same agricultural product from which chocolate comes from.
To make chocolate, cacao beans are harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, peeled, then ground, before being combined with cocoa butter and sugar to make chocolate bars. Tablea is made following a similar process, except it stops at the grinding stage with more coarsely ground beans. These are then massed into balls for later use, or shaped into tablea as we know them.
Because tablea does not go through the additional steps for refining as chocolate does, it retains a deeper, earthy, bitter chocolate flavor. It also does not contain other ingredients or additives; although sometimes, sweeteners like muscovado sugar are added.
Merienda is a Spanish word that translates to “snack,” one that refers to a light snack often eaten in the afternoon. It is a habit that Filipinos adopted from Spanish colonizers but have made their own, becoming an indispensable part of Philippine culture. Merienda also now includes light snacks taken in the morning, both before and after breakfast, as well as late-night snacks.
Tablea is a popular merienda option. It is often made into tsokolate (known as sikwate in the Visayas region) by dissolving it in hot water or milk. You can also customize it with your choice of sweeteners and mix-ins. Tablea is also largely used in champorado, a chocolate rice porridge made using ground tablea and glutinous rice. Champorado is usually eaten for breakfast or morning merienda as a sweet, heavy, hot snack.
There are many other ways to enjoy tablea for merienda. Thanks to the creativity of Filipinos—and the versatility of tablea—we have seen many snacks that incorporate tablea into the recipe. Once ground or crumbled, it works similarly to cocoa powder or other dry flavorings.
You can turn them into almost anything: bread rolls (like cinnamon rolls, except with tablea), cookies, puddings, macarons—you name it! It even works in quick savory recipes like tablea adobo or tablea-rubbed steak. Those aren’t really merienda, but if you eat it between traditional meals, it counts!
Tablea can also be used to make drinks in the form of iced beverages, shakes, and even cocktails. You can mix it in or use it as a topping. Tablea has also become part of commercial merienda items like ice cream.
Tablea is also already a snack in itself! If you just want to enjoy its flavor at its purest, do as the locals do and simply nibble on the tablets!
Filo Artisan Trade, a purveyor of Filipino products in Australia, carries several brands of tablea that you can use to make merienda. We also have tablea packs that come with up to four different brands and even a batirol, a traditional wooden tool used to make tsokolate.
We deliver Australia-wide or you can opt to pick up your order in Caroline Springs, Melbourne.
]]>The pandemic has affected a lot of lives in the Philippines, not just because of the virus itself, but most especially, it hits the country's economic and financial aspects. One of the sectors that have been most afflicted is Education. The Department of Education (DepEd) has prohibited face-to-face classes due to the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine. Instead, they organized a Blended Learning Program, which involves online, radio, tv, and module-based learning.
As of this writing, the municipality of Manay has remained covid-free, but their schools have suffered due to the government's education budget cuts to make way for COVID-19's medical response.
Sumambot Elementary School is a small institution in Purok Banacabac, Barangay Del Pilar, Manay, Davao Oriental. According to one of their teachers, Osman Paidan, "The school has a whole Elementary level from Kinder I to Grade VI. There are 67 pupils enrolled as of October 2020 and three teachers, including the Teacher In-Charge. Most of our learners are a member of an Indigenous Tribe “Mandaya."
The school is located in a small and remote town, so there are very limited telecom signal and even electricity. TV, radio, and online learning are impossible for students. The teachers of the school would depend more on the learning modules so that students can continue with their educational journey.
"Our students may experience illiteracy in technology because of the lack of gadgets to be used. Parents can’t provide something for their children’s learning," Paidan added.
Apart from the technological limitations of the school and the community, distance has been a problem for some of Paidan's students. Some of them will have to walk for hours and cross two rivers to get to the school. The students also lack food, school supplies, and medicines, but in spite of that, they are very motivated to learn and study.
Despite all the hardships, R. Sumambot Elementary School's prayers have been answered. The school is fortunate enough to be spotted by Chris Uson, Filo Artisan Trade's owner, in a Sunstar article by Ace Perez, entitled, "Teachers on the frontlines". Chris read the featured article and was touched by Osman's story. He immediately contacted Ace to get Osman's number so that the company can donate some of its profit to the school.
Osman Paidan and his co-teachers have prepared for this school year and used (all) 100% of donations to buy school materials for the students. They have also been distributing the modules and other supplies to their students while helping them answer the self-learning modules.
"The teachers of R. Sumambot Elementary School extend our heartfelt gratitude to Filo Artisan Trade for giving cash assistance for modules reproduction. We consider the owner of the company and whoever initiated this project as our Brigada heroes. During the start of modules printing, it’s hard for the teachers to provide materials like bond paper, printer, and inks. Filo Artisan Trade has provided a big help to our school in providing the needs of teachers for modules reproduction before the opening of classes. Our learners' learning continues because of the help of the company," Paidan said.
Paidan mentioned that one student of his was demotivated due to the lack of school supplies as well as the dangers in travelling to and from his home and school. Paidan assured his student that he himself will get him the materials he needed for school. As soon as the student heard that he received the supplies that were being donated, he got his motivation back again, although he will still miss the face to face classes and fun he has with his classmates.
Filo Artisan Trade salutes Osman Paidan and his co-teachers for their hard work and sacrifice in providing education to the children in Manay. They are the true heroes. The donation was a huge help for the students and teachers, but no one can ever match the love that the teachers have for their work and their students.
The company would also like to thank their customers for their continued patronage and for helping them donate school supplies to the students of R. Sumambot Elementary School.
Filo Artisan Trade's vision and mission are to bring Mindanao's superb local products to Australia, at the same time giving back to the impoverished communities in the Philippines. Giving back has always been the company's core values, and this opportunity to give was crucial, given the educational budget cuts in the country. The company also believes that aside from having food, health, and shelter, education is another important thing to focus on.
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Every harvest season depends on the specific climate, area, or crop of a country. Hence, people celebrate them at different times. Some regions celebrate it to welcome the start of the harvest of crops or fruits, while others celebrate it as thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest.
Many regions around the world have secularized their harvest celebration into regional holidays so that their people could celebrate it. Eating, games, contests, music, mall-wide sales and discounts, and several merriment activities are standard features of every festival in a particular town. Visitors from different parts of the continent flock to that specific place to enjoy its fruits of labor and other festive activities it has to offer.
Tourists come to take a taste of Davao's durian and its several varieties.
In the southern hemisphere of the Philippines lies one of the principal cities, Davao. It is in every third week of August when the people celebrate thanksgiving for a good harvest. Kadayawan, from the word "Madayaw," which means a friendly greeting. The word "madayaw" is from "dayaw," defined as superior or beautiful. It is almost a month-long celebration for Davao, with its people and establishments organizing fun-filled activities for the people.
Each year, a lot of people from outside the city and country grace Davao not just for the festival rites, but to witness the bountiful fruits, it has to offer. Fruits like the ubiquitous durian, mangosteen, rambutan overflow during this time of the year. One can even get them for as low as 10PHP or 0.28AUD.
Mangosteen is cheaply priced for as low as at 10PHP/0.28AUD per kilo
Davao City is celebrating its 34th Kadayawan festival that kicked off on August 2. The Kadayawan used to be a week-long celebration that starts every third week of August. However, for 2019, Davao's Mayor Inday Sara Duterte declared it to be a month-long celebration. The city even increased its festival budget from 60 million PHP last year to 75 million this year. They expect around 250,000 local and foreign visitors to sojourn the city and bear witness to what the festival has to offer.
A mainstay of the Kadayawan festival is the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan, which means to dance with the music in the streets. It is an annual competition of dancing where the contestants dance and dress in traditional ways, with twists that entice the judges. The Pamulak Kadayawan floral float parade goes hand-in-hand with the Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan competition. Usually, the street dance competition goes first, and then the floral show comes the next day. However, for this year, the city will witness both of them in different weeks: the Indak-Indak on the third week (August 17), and the Pamulak parade on the following week (August 24).
The annual Indak Indak sa Kadalanan Street Dance and Costume Competition.
Other Activities
Apart from the two main activities above, the city has organized new and exciting cultural events. Fashion enthusiasts look forward to Habi Kadayawan, a competition for fashion designers that already have entries coming from different parts of Mindanao. According to our sources, the fashion and design competition will witness the culture and heritage of 11 tribes in Mindanao, the southern region of the Philippines. Aside from that, several private establishments have put up their own activities and events for the Kadayawan.
The government of Davao put together these exciting events as well:
Agri-Trade Fair
As one of the most agriculturally-rich cities in the Philippines, Davao's Agri-Trade Fair in Kadayawan will showcase the flora of Davao. It will run from August 12 - 31 at SM City Davao.
3D Light Show
For the first time, the government of Davao set-up a 3D Light show for people to enjoy from August 2 - 25, every 6-10pm at the City Hall of Davao.
The Kadayawan Village
The ways and culture of 11 tribes of Davao are shown in this village built in Magsaysay Park on the entire month of August.
Kadayawan Farmers Market
Magsaysay Park will host this market that showcases several of Davao's fruit and vegetable harvests.
Other Competitions:
Hiyas sa Kadayawan is not your usual beauty pageant as it showcases the 11 tribes of Davao City, their culture and tradition, into this paramount pageant.
Pitik Kadayawan: a drumbeating competition with contestants beating through their drums from Roxas Avenue to the Kadayawan Square (August 24).
Tunog Kadayawan: a songwriting competition about the authentic culture of Kadayawan and the 11 tribes will be held at the Matina Town Square on August 23.
Mugna Kadayawan: On-the-spot art competition that will be held at Sta. Ana wharf on August 3, 8 am.
Security
Since the Kadayawan festival is turning bigger this year, the city government of Davao has deployed 27,560 of personnel to take care of the entire city. It especially has set-up very tight measures during its festivities. Several no-nos are also confirmed, like no bringing of backpacks and non-transparent water bottles, no wearing of jackets, etc. The government of Davao is implementing these for the safety of Davao people and the tourists coming.
So what are you waiting for? Come and join the Kadayawan festivities in 2019! Everyone is welcome!
I was able to talk to their second-generation founders and game-changers, Nel and Eyeth Belviz, and learned more about the traditional tableya.
Rosario's Delicacies started on January 2, 1978, when Rosario's Delicacies' late forefather, Severino Belviz came to a "Eureka Moment," just right after his son, Nel Belviz was born. He noticed that his son's birthmark under his chin was shaped like a cacao bean. As it was a lightbulb moment for him, he immediately acted on it and planted his very first cacao on a farm that he leased. From that moment on, he worked on his cacao farm, after his working hours, from 4-8pm every day.
Fast forward to 4 years after, his son Nel, the one responsible for his "eureka moment" or shall I say "glorious intervention" has already dreamed of making a bar of chocolate. The young kid would often make his chocolate by mixing tableya with sugar or milk.
However, after a trip to Thailand with a friend, another lightbulb moment came to the late Severino Belviz. He visited a durian farm there and was convinced to focus on durian farming instead. Hence, Rosario's Fruit Stop in Bangkerohan was born. Even though the family focused on their durian farming, they did not leave out the cacao.
The Nel and Eyeth Belviz tandem
It was in 2011 that Severino's son, Nel, and his wife Eyeth turned their eyes on cacao farming once again and decided to produce the tableya. During that time, cacao farming was slowly becoming prominent in the Philippines, with several large international companies relying on the country for their chocolates' cacao. In 2015, Eyeth went to Belgium to study chocolate making (from bean to bar). Hence, as of the moment, along with several cacao producers in Davao City, the Belviz couple are doing the best they could to strengthen the Cacao Industry in Mindanao.
Like Rosario's Delicacies, Mindanao's chocolate industry has evolved so much, as many brands are making their own bean to bar chocolates and even showcasing them in the international market, but what about tableya? What makes the Filipino Tableya different from the usual chocolate drinks we have in the market?
According to Nel Belviz, the tableya, specifically the one they are making, and the one being produced by several cacao farmers in Mindanao today, is all-natural. They don't add, and they don't remove anything from its source. It also has a complex and sophisticated favor--it's fruity, it's not flat, not smoky, and it has developed its own aroma. What's interesting is that its flavour also depends on the particular climate when it is produced.
Since the tableya is all-natural, it offers robust health benefits as well. It's 100% real chocolate that boosts serotonin levels. It improves brain function and may improve blood flow and lower blood pressure. It's also the powerhouse of potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. Think of these when you're thinking of buying other imported brands from the supermarket (most of which have only 50% cacao or less).
Rosario's Delicacies aim to standardize the quality of their tableya. While maintaining its traditional varieties, they also try to innovate as much as possible. They also help a lot of small farmers earn a living or farm more "wholesomely."
Slowly, the cacao industry in Davao City is making it to the top. The Davao tableya and chocolate makers have it all: they're ethical, and they produce top-notch cacao and chocolate-based products. However, it would grow faster if it gets more support from the Filipino people. Support local. You may get these fantastic products at the Filo Artisan Trade website. Locally, there is Cacao City, a collaboration store of Davao local cacao-based products.