Aired (November 24, 2024): Halos sampung dekada nang pinangangalagaan ng angkan ni Ernesto Flores ang mga furniture na ito sa Bulacan. Ang sikreto raw sa matibay nilang muwebles, tadyang ng kalabaw?! Panoorin ang video.
Hosted by veteran journalists Susan Enriquez, ‘I Juander’ uncovers the truth behind widely-accepted Filipino customs, beliefs, and questions.
Watch 'I Juander' every Sunday, 8:00 PM on GTV. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes. #iJuanderGTV
Hosted by veteran journalists Susan Enriquez, ‘I Juander’ uncovers the truth behind widely-accepted Filipino customs, beliefs, and questions.
Watch 'I Juander' every Sunday, 8:00 PM on GTV. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes. #iJuanderGTV
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00:00As the saying goes, keep your skeleton in the closet.
00:06But the story of these furniture needs to be analyzed.
00:13These furniture are worth hundreds of thousands of pesos just because of the bones?
00:24This tea cart is worth 30,000 pesos.
00:28This table set is worth 220,000 pesos.
00:36And this dining table is worth more than half a million pesos.
00:46Ernesto has been taking care of these furniture in the ancestral house in Bulacan for almost 10 decades.
00:56These furniture are the reason why they are still alive.
01:01The furniture that is worth a million pesos is the antique altar table.
01:08But if the reproduction is possible, 50,000 pesos to 150,000 pesos.
01:13It depends on the design of the altar table.
01:15In Nara, there are 300,000 pesos.
01:18Their great-grandfather, Silvestre, was the one who started this art in Baliwag.
01:26And to make it more designable, they came up with the idea of using the skull of a calabash.
01:34Here in the Philippines, the big bones that we get, and we often get legal bones,
01:42is the skull of a calabash.
01:47We get it from the slaughterhouse of calabash.
01:52This is called embute or inlay.
01:56This alpahol or white design is unique because it does not age and crumbles.
02:04I will put it on the furniture.
02:06That is why Ernesto continues this cultural and vibrant life.
02:12In fact, they are regularly invited to cultural trade fairs.
02:17But when Ernesto grew up, one of the pillars of their life was the 60-year-old Philip.
02:25This embute is rare.
02:29I inherited this from my parents.
02:32Now, this is a product of the Philippines.
02:36It's like it's gone.
02:38We just live with it.
02:40Our furniture has been replaced with plastic or wood.
02:45Philip started embute in Baliwag when he was 14 years old.
02:49Even though he currently lives in Pampanga, he continues embute
02:55because what he does now is not enough for the number of fingers.
02:58According to the curator of the Museum of Baliwag,
03:01we have a lot of different programs and strategies
03:05to ensure that the traditional art of embute does not die.
03:11At the same time, those who have embute.
03:15What I earn from embute or inlay is P16,000.
03:21For example, we will make an altar table.
03:24First, I will put the pattern.
03:27After that, I will put the straight line.
03:33This is a part of the ribs of the calabaw.
03:37I use this because it has a part that can be folded.
03:42The calabaw seeds are only lucky to be available in the market.
03:46That's why Philip is embuting them.
03:49The calabaw seeds are only lucky to be available in the market.
03:53That's why Philip is embuting them.
03:55This is our calabaw.
03:59This is what I earn.
04:07Philip's own work is the machine for making alpahol.
04:11The calabaw seeds are passed through the sieve one by one
04:15and thinned four times.
04:18Philip thinks that the measurement should be one so that the seeds will not be wasted.
04:22When it is thin, it will be transferred to shaping.
04:25The seeds will be cut manually and placed in a wooden pattern.
04:30The pattern is also his own work.
04:33The special design is already used by the machine.
04:39But the manual work is still the same.
04:42Alpahol or diamond shape is the most commonly used in embuting.
04:49Even if the process takes a long time, it is said that it is beautiful right from the seeds.
04:56The 1940s was the time when embuting was first introduced in Baliwag.
05:02If we go back in history,
05:04we can see the furniture with embuts in big and wealthy houses.
05:10That's why it became a status symbol.
05:12The government of Baliwag is also trying to preserve some of the furniture in their museum
05:19and continue to revive embuting in their province.
05:41Music