Since I was young, I have already heard of the Hablon Industry of Argao Cebu, Philippines. However, I never had the chance to see how hablon (fabric weaving) is actually done. Only until recently when I visited a popular location that I was able to witness hablon making.
I arrived with a group of ladies busy weaving fabrics. They were all meticulously working on different fabric designs — others were working on colorful threads of blue, red, and yellow, while others were stuck on simply white. There was one lady whose only job was to prepare the threads, carefully spinning them individually into small wooden sticks.
From afar, I heard the sound of bamboo pegs hitting some wooden planks as the ladies used their legs to paddle the loom.
Hablon de Argao, the traditional industry itself, has been in the town for generations. Argawanons were known to be good weavers since the 1960s. That time, the hablons were used mainly as clothing and mosquito nets.
The hablon industry in Argao is slowly dying, over the years. However, with the re-introduction of the industry to the locals through the Cebu Technological University Argao Campus, the weaving industry is now reviving.
