Banig - History - A Tradition Lives On

A Tradition Lives On

Mat weaving is an old cottage industry of Basey, with many of its villages engaged in the craft. In Barangay Bacubac, some three kilometers northwest of the town proper, old women spend the day weaving banig inside their nipa huts, while their husbands prepare the tikog materials they will use.

In Barangay Basiao, the last village of Basey to the southeast, which is located about 20 kilometers from the town proper, some of the womenfolk spend the day weaving mats under a canopy-like stone formation.

The place is actually a part of a small cave located along the national highway, just across the coastal village. The women explain that they prefer to work in this place because the cool atmosphere makes the tikog less brittle, thus making it easier for them to weave sleeping mats.

Elsewhere in Basey, many women are busy weaving mats that they would later sell in town to augment the income of their spouses. Others sell their mats to entrepreneurs who would bring the product to be sold in Tacloban City, which is about 30 kilometers away.

The usual designs of the banig of Basey are yano (plain), sinamay (checkered) and bordado or pinahutan (embroidered). The sizes also vary.