Saturday, May 27, 2006
The Philippine Rattan Industry
When one talks of the Philippine Rattan Furniture Industry one is really talk about the Cebu Rattan Industry. Cebu, at the height of its rattan furniture boom accounted for most of the manufacturers and exporters in the country and for the world for that matter. If you find rattan and wicker furniture in the United States or Europe chances are it came from Cebu. Watching the big factories churn out container vans loaded with rattan furniture and inhaling the fumes of the lacquers and the coating while touring their working areas, one could not help but wonder of the costs both in human terms and in environmental terms.
Rattan and logging go together. The big logging companies race to cut the most trees without really considering the rattan that clings to its trunk. These are harvested by small operators who make a bit of profit for their effort. The big-time loggers usually become important politicians owing to their wealth and their desire to protect their business interests. It is not unusual to find a Mayor of a town or city, or a Governor of a province, or a Congressman who also has logging interets or who is connected to sponsors who are loggers.
When I first ventured into this ill-fated roller-coaster ride, I had seen supplies of raw rattan in Cebu becoming more and more scarce and fool that I am I figured I could find a way to cash in on this. They say shit or decaying flesh attracts flies. I know it to be true literally and metaphorically. This little adventure of mine brought out of the woodwork the marginal and unsavory characters who would eventually bury me in stench.
Visit these sites:
Rattan and logging go together. The big logging companies race to cut the most trees without really considering the rattan that clings to its trunk. These are harvested by small operators who make a bit of profit for their effort. The big-time loggers usually become important politicians owing to their wealth and their desire to protect their business interests. It is not unusual to find a Mayor of a town or city, or a Governor of a province, or a Congressman who also has logging interets or who is connected to sponsors who are loggers.
When I first ventured into this ill-fated roller-coaster ride, I had seen supplies of raw rattan in Cebu becoming more and more scarce and fool that I am I figured I could find a way to cash in on this. They say shit or decaying flesh attracts flies. I know it to be true literally and metaphorically. This little adventure of mine brought out of the woodwork the marginal and unsavory characters who would eventually bury me in stench.
Visit these sites:
Monday, May 22, 2006
An innocent beginning
When first I ventured into the mountains it was to look for a suitable supply of Rattan which was rapidly dwindling as the lush tropical rain forests of Mindanao fell to the screech and whine of gasoline-fed chainsaws transforming thisdiverse and fertile ecosystem into barren wastelands as marginal farmers burned the undergrowth to plant corn and cassava. The rich topsoil would soon fall to the onslaught of the steadily falling mountain rain which draws tiny trickles together and bond them into rivulets that grow and swell and surge into floods that devastate without feeling, without thought or malice. I was told that in the hinterlands there were still patches of forests which the logging companies had determined were too expensive to operate on. Rattan starts out creeping on the ground and finding a tree begins to climb it. The majestic Philippine mahogany is host to this creeping, climbing wonder which when turned into furniture by the superb craftsmen of Cebu becomes furniture unrivalled in beauty, durability, strength and inventiveness of design.
The stories of Yamashita's gold has always been with us having lived in this fabulous island which is so rich in natural treasures that only the ones who knew intimately about these buried, man-made treasures would pursue their excavation in the dead of night away from curious, prying eyes. Stories often mention President Marcos as having stolen a Golden Buddha which was supposedly unearthed by a treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas.
The stories of Yamashita's gold has always been with us having lived in this fabulous island which is so rich in natural treasures that only the ones who knew intimately about these buried, man-made treasures would pursue their excavation in the dead of night away from curious, prying eyes. Stories often mention President Marcos as having stolen a Golden Buddha which was supposedly unearthed by a treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas.
