Banglos banca: A Christmas (gift) story

Swathed in cheery wrapping, sometimes with a ribbon round it for added flair, and a card bearing the giver’s greetings: these alone make a Christmas present a pleasure to receive. 

What if the gift had a story behind it? That would make it a treasure.

This Christmas, Smart Communications Inc. is giving one such gift to its corporate partners. The item is a wooden banca carved by the Banglos Sculptors, a group of fishermen and farmers who have come to symbolize survival and hope.

Through Smart, they learned to carve as an alternative livelihood in the wake of a devastating typhoon in General Nakar, Quezon, in 2003, and eventually became the core of a community-based arts group. They bring to mind what Michelangelo once said: “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”

Arnel Rebate, general manager of the Banglos Sculptors Multi-purpose Cooperative, says the idea of a banca came to him when he saw a piece of driftwood shaped like one. He and another sculptor worked on the design and presented it to Smart.  

Why a banca?

“It’s close to our hearts… because we were — some still are — fishermen,” says Eladio Labsan, chairman of Banglos Sculptors. The Banglos banca is symbolic of the direction their group has taken: A banca continues to sail toward its destination, even though it sometimes goes against the tide. “Every now and then, we experience some obstacle, but we know the importance of just sailing forward,” Rebate says.

Although sculptors follow one design, no two finished products look exactly the same. The flaws on the wood or, say, the unevenness on an edge makes each banca unique.

Because of the volume required, the group had to seek out various driftwood suppliers. Some sold by the bulk, others piecemeal. “In a way, we shared our livelihood with others,” says Rebate.

The process begins with chopping the wood to create several blocks, which are further divided according to the standard size, to be shaped into bancas. 

“We call this pagtatabtab,” Rebate says. It is a tedious process because the sculptors work with hardwood. Five of the 28 men and women belonging to the group do this using an itak.

Another group is assigned to deboss the center of each piece to make look like a banca, Labsan continues. Workers at this stage use a mallet and a pait. With their feet holding the block of wood in place, a pait in one hand and a mallet in the other, the sculptors carve out the inside of the banca.

“To smoothen the surface, we first use a grinder, then three kinds of sandpaper for hard-to-reach corners and edges,” says Rebate. The Banglos Women Artists are in charge of this. The menfolk acknowledge that they are more precise and meticulous.

One of the women, Merly Pujalte, says that when the surface is smooth enough, the first coating of natural gloss is applied. The piece is further polished with sandpaper, followed by another coating, this time of clear gloss.

”When the gloss dries, we use another kind of sandpaper to make the wood surface even smoother.”

The final step is the application of linseed oil to protect the wood. To bring out its full gleam and to achieve an “antique” look, a layer of wax is added.  

The finished sculptures for Smart were brought to Manila, where each piece was placed in custom-made boxes, artfully tied with sinamay ribbon.  

Each piece takes about three hours to finish. In a day, the group produces about 60 pieces.

For the Banglos Sculptors, producing the sculptures for Smart was not only a chance to polish their craft but also an occasion for reminiscing and strengthening team spirit.

Rebate puts it eloquently: “It was important to be constantly aware that each banca is the product of every member’s effort. From selecting the wood until the application of the final coating of gloss and wax, each piece passed several pairs of hands. No one could really claim that he or she was the sole sculptor of a particular piece. This makes each Banglos banca even more meaningful for us, and we hope that the person who receives it will appreciate that.”