Two Very Old Ladies And the Art of Cutting Pastillas Wrappers
By EC Estrada Inquirer at www.inquirer.business.net First Posted 09:01am (Mla time) 12/17/2006
Published on page B6 of the December 17, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THIS story is not a success story. At least not in financial terms.
Although if these two ladies were living in another country where creativity, labor and artistic work command a high price, then they would be pretty well off now.
Luz Ocampo, 84, and Lita Ramos Libunao, 72, are into traditional pastillas wrapper-making because of their love for the craft. Both tubong San Miguel, Bulacan, they are active in keeping the art of the traditional pastillas wrapper alive.
The traditional pastillas wrapper is cutout papel de japon in different designs and colors. It can be personalized with the name of the recipient or convey messages such as “Mabuhay,” “Happy Birthday,” or “Merry Christmas.”
December is the peak season. Aside from the orders for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, there are orders for Christmas. They have in stock batches of six or four which are easy to count when drop-in customers or foreign visitors ask for them.
The two do not require a deposit for special orders. There is no guarantee that an order will be picked up and paid for. Only last month, Lita got a personal call from someone she knew, the owner of a well-known Bulacan sweets shop, for an order of Christmas paper cuttings featuring the Christmas Star.
She made the designs and filled up the order only to be told that it was too late to send these abroad as the customer had planned and that she would not be needing them anymore.
Lita says she wished the customer who had placed the order had taken them anyway, if only to appreciate the effort she had put into it—making the designs and cutting the paper out.
This also happened to Luz last Christmas, supposedly the season of love. An order for a well-known hotel in Makati which said, “Pasko sa ____” was not picked up either. Luz says this is off the record, but it is intrinsic to the article. We are leaving out the name of the hotel though. Learning the craft Luz learned the craft during “peacetime” in school when she was about 11 to 12 years old. Lita learned it from her mother Priscila Gatchalian Ramos when she was growing up.
Both have given demonstrations before foreign tourists upon the invitation of tourism officials. Luz has been written about in magazines and newspapers and even in books, the last without her knowledge and consent. People do take advantage of simple folks like her and Lita.
Though Lita may not be “the flavor of the month” as Luz is, she is an expert too. It may take her longer to fill an order because her designs are very intricate. Finding her was nothing short of a miracle.
Her mother, the late Priscila, was a favorite of former first lady Imelda Marcos and was frequently picked up to demonstrate her craft before foreign visitors. Those were the days, Lita’s sister, also named Luz, reminisces.
Luz has 25 patented designs featuring rural scenes—bahay kubo, woman in baro’t saya, Maria Clara, man pounding rice, etc. Luz made herself. Lita has more than a hundred designs, some she inherited from her mother, others were designed by brother Juan Ramos who passed away in 1982. Lita’s designs are mostly delicate small flowers and leaves with an occasional butterfly, bahay kubo, coconut tree, dove and the like. She now designs her Christmas wrappers.
Both Luz and Lita use colored or white papel de japon. While Luz herself does the buying in Divisoria of the imported paper, Lita contents herself with locally produced paper. This probably accounts for the difference in price for the cutouts—P50 more for a hundred of the imported ones.
Lita uses three heirloom scissors which belonged to her mother, while Luz has about 15 scissors in all, some pasalubong from friends who have traveled abroad. Luz does everything herself, from buying the paper, to the designs, to the tracing of the design, to cutting out the design, and the sharpening of the scissors.
Unlike Lita who wears glasses, Luz, who is left-handed, wears none. She rests her eyes by looking at the greenery around her or dabbing miraculous water from Lourdes, France, on it. Luz works on her art in the big terrace of her Malolos home where she moved in 1993. There, she spends on natural light and natural air-conditioning.
To make the paper cutouts, Luz and Lita:
1. Cut the papel de japon into the desired size, 3.5 inches by 10 inches, for Luz, or 4.25 inches by 10 inches for Lita.
2. Fold six or four sheets together, six of the imported paper, four of the local paper. Lita staples the sheets of paper together up to the design.
3. Using a template of the desired design, trace the design on the prepared paper using a Mongol pencil number 2.
4. Cut out the design using special scissors like Solingen’s cuticle scissors which have narrow, slightly curved tips. At this point Lita cuts out the stapled portion as she finalizes the cutout.
5. Press each batch of cutouts between the pages of an old magazine or used activity workbook to keep the dainty filigrees from getting crumpled.
Today Lita can finish 200 pieces in five days. In her youth, Luz could do 100 pieces in a day. At 84, Luz says, she can finish less, “nangangawit o naiinip.”
Luz can be reached by PLDT landline 044-7915657 or in her Malolos home at 83 Inang Wika, Caniogan. Lita lives in 142 Payawal St., Poblacion, San Miguel, Bulacan. Her cell phone number is 0917-8076228.
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