Anyone's Culture

After my introduction to the Old City Market, George took me to see a kind of "Souvenir Row", an area of street a little outside the city center which houses many of the city's handicraft sellers. This area is marked with a sign that says, "Puerto Princesa Tourism Council Souvenir Shops"

Inside the various shops, which are more or less identical, there are displays of the wonderful hard work of a variety of crafts people, including many wood carvings and statues, wind chimes, jewellery and woven baskets. Some of these products are purchased from the various indigenous tribes of Palawan, while others are made by local artisans, and some by those who work in the shops.

I had been warned, however, that as intricate as many of these crafts were, many which were posing as Filipino clearly were not. There were wooden sculptures that were clearly African in nature, and I was surprised to see Dream Catchers, which any North American can tell you, is not Filipino.

When asked, none of the shop keepers could tell me much about the cultural or historical relevance of any piece, and most weren't sure what was actually local. One beautiful chandelier like piece made of carved wood, and glass beads, was made by the man operating the shop, but when I asked about its history, he said he had learned how to do it from his brother-in-law, and wasn't sure of its lineage.

This is an area that Puerto Princesa City needs a lot of help with. In a country where borrowed culture is indemic, and poverty is a major issue, it would not be in the best interest to prevent copied culture from being sold, however it is the local government's interest to take stewardship for the preservation of indigenous Filipino culture, and for marketing this as their heritage.