By: Ron Lopez
Inquirer Central Luzon
12:15 AM November 05, 2015
LUZ OCAMPO, 93, shows off some of her favorite designs of “pastillas” wrappers, all of which are patented in her name. RON LOPEZ/INQUIRER CENTRAL LUZON
CITY OF MALOLOS—The agricultural town of San Miguel in Bulacan is home to “pastillas”—that creamy, soft milk candy whose recipe was made popular recently by an online video posted by Angelica Jane Yap, popularly known as “Pastillas Girl,” who was nursing a broken heart over a former lover.
But in San Miguel, the original Pastillas Girl is not a comely lass looking for another chance at love.
Meet 93-year-old Luz Ocampo, who has been recognized for preserving the traditional art of making pastillas wrapper, called “borlas de pastillas” or “pabalat,” in the town formerly called San Miguel de Mayumo.
The term “mayumo” means “sweet” in Kapampangan.
Ocampo spent over 70 years nurturing the art, which is threatened by the loss of interest among the younger generations, said her daughter, Naty Ocampo-Castro. She is among, if not the last, remaining pabalat artisans of her generation but her contribution in keeping this art alive is evident in her body of work.
Her passion for paper cutting started at school when pabalat making was taught as part of the curriculum. Her skills improved when she started helping her mother, Adelaida Villaseñor, in cutting wrappers during her spare time after school.
Villaseñor was known for her pastillas and other delicacies in their home village of San Vicente.
Rural settings
Since learning the craft in her fifth grade at 12 until her retirement in 2010 at 88, Ocampo had created more than 50 designs, mostly based on rural settings in San Miguel.
Castro said at least 25 of these designs had been patented under her mother’s name.
Ocampo’s favorite designs include those showing outlines of Maria Clara from Jose Rizal’s Noli me Tangere, the traditional “bahay kubo” (nipa hut), and an image of a man pounding rice.
“When Mommy was in mood, she would draw from time to time. She drew anything she noticed in San Miguel, including nature [elements and scenes]…. She’s really an artist,” Castro told the Inquirer.
Unknown to many, Ocampo is also an expert in the art of fruit carving, using lime, santol and pomelo as her canvasses.
Aside from her original patterns, Ocampo is known for making customized designs based on the preferences of her customers, among them simple Bulakenyo folk and owners of five-star hotels in Metro Manila.
Customers’ names
Customers usually request their names to be put in the elaborate design of the
2 x 10-inch pastillas wrapper. The wrappers and sweets are given as gifts during important occasions.
It was during Ocampo’s last year in high school, in the early 1940s, when the Japanese invaded the country, forcing her to give up pursuing college and tap her skills.
“When [World War II] started, I was in fourth year high school. That’s all I
finished since every school was closed year-round. I did not manage to study in Manila because of the chaos,” Ocampo said.
After the war, she put up a gift shop in San Miguel, where her skills were honed by wrapping gifts using wrappers with her own designs.
Upon marriage, Ocampo pursued pastillas wrapper making as a hobby and started earning by taking orders from home. But it was only after the death of her husband, Oscar, in the 1970s that she turned her hobby into a full time livelihood to support her four children.
From hobby to livelihood
Ocampo would start collecting thousands of pieces of pastillas wrappers in preparation for the high demand in the months leading to December when several celebrations are held, Castro said.
She would spend her days with folded colorful Japanese paper on her right hand and a pair of cuticle scissors on the other, carefully cutting the traces she made. She would place it between the pages of old magazines or books to avoid being crumpled.
She used to finish at least 100 pieces of pabalat a day, which she sold for 20 centavos in the 1950s. This now costs P600 per 100 pieces for basic designs and P1,000 for customized designs. If a customer wanted pastillas with the wrapper, then the product is sold at P12 each.
The tedious part of pastillas wrapper making, Castro said, is the cutting process. While a trace is followed, cutting small holes of the design takes effort and time, and a simple error could render the whole set useless, she said.
A lot of patience
“Cutting needs patience, a lot of patience,” she said.
Ocampo could finish a set, which contains five wrappers, between 10 and 15 minutes. “She made her products in our house in San Miguel. She doesn’t want to rent a space since it will entail an additional cost,” Castro said.
Ocampo’s wrappers became popular in Bulacan after she transferred to the City of Malolos in 1993 to live with her daughter, carrying with her the art of pabalat making.
Food historian Milagros Enriquez noticed Ocampo’s talent when she saw her demonstrating the craft in a school in Malolos. She invited Ocampo to seminars and workshops about the dying traditional art.
Among Ocampo’s regular customers is businessman Jaime Zobel de Ayala, who visited her in Bulacan to document the art in 2010.
Ocampo has displayed her craft in several official functions in Malacañang, with the latest in July 2012 when Spain’s Queen Sofia came to the Philippines for a five-day official visit.
Ocampo has been recognized by several groups, including the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, which conferred on her the Gawad Pamanang Sining. The Cultural Center of the Philippines paid tribute to her as one of the country’s “Manlilikha” or living artisans of the Philippine traditional arts.
The Bulacan government and the local governments of Malolos and San Miguel have been recognizing Ocampo since 2000 for her contribution in the preservation of the traditional art.
Dangal ng Lipi awardee
In September this year, she was cited as one of the province’s Dangal ng Lipi awardees, the highest recognition given by the provincial government to Bulakenyos who excelled in their chosen field.
But one of the things she enjoyed is conducting workshops and seminars in different schools and for organizations so she can pass on the art of paper cutting to younger generations, Castro said.
But Castro lamented that the craft is slowly dying, with few people appreciating and practicing wrapper making.
“She taught the women here how to make pastillas wrapper but no one wants to do it because it is tedious and hard,” Castro said. “Most of them have no patience doing it.”
Of Ocampo’s children, only Castro decided to pursue craft that her mother devoted her life into. The decision, however, came only after Castro retired as an industrial engineer in 2010.
Now 57, Castro said she went into pabalat making for the sake of her mother’s legacy. “I was not interested when I was younger, but my mother said no one will take care of the business, no one will continue the craft of pastillas wrapper making in the family. So I took on this task,” she said.
Presidential sisters Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz and Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Aquino-Abellada attended the recent launching of the second series of limited edition special scented stamps and souvenir sheets, held at Sofitel Hotel- Bulong Pulungan Forum. PHLPost issues a second series of Cory Aquino floral paintings scented stamps.
Cory Aquino Stamps Series II Launching 2015 with Deedee Siytangco
PHLPost issues ‘Noche Buena stamps’ for Christmas season
The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) is celebrating the Christmas season with the release of its “Noche Buena” stamps featuring the traditional Filipino feast.
The se-tenant strip of four stamps features “Noche Buena” which is a traditional dinner of Filipinos during Christmas Eve commonly with lechon at the center of the dining table.
The Christmas stamp was designed by the PHLPost’s in-house graphic designer Rodine Teodoro.
Traditionally, a variety of sumptuous dishes are served during this famous Filipino Christmas dinner like pancit, hamon, queso de bola, puto bumbong, bibingka, fruit salad, suman, and many more.
The PHLPost has printed 50,000 copies of the four designed se-tenant strip of Noche Buena stamp sold for 12 pesos each.
The stamps and official first day covers are now available at the Philatelic Counter, Central Post Office, Liwasang Bonifacio 1000, Manila and area post offices nationwide. — Joviland Rita/MDM, GMA News
Presidential sisters’ Kris Aquino, Viel Aquino-Dee, Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Ballsy Aquino-Cruz receive the framed special souvenir “Cory Aquino Scented Stamps” from Postmaster General Josie Dela Cruz and Chairman Cesar Sarino of the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost). The event highlights the opening of the “History and Her Story” photo exhibit dedicated to former President Corazon Aquino held at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City.
Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo and Philippine Postal Corporation Chairman Cesar N. Sarino, together with Postmaster General Ma. Josefina dela Cruz and INC General Secretary Radel G. Cortez, officially unveil the INC Centennial Commemorative Stamp which was launched on Saturday, May 10, 2014, on the occasion of the 128th birth anniversary of the INC’s first Executive Minister Bro. Felix Y. Manalo. (Photo courtesy INC Executive News)
MANILA, Philippines (ENS) — The Philippine Postal Corporation on Saturday, May 10, officially launched the “Iglesia Ni Cristo Centennial Commemorative Stamp” inside the INC Central Office in Diliman, Quezon City, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Church’s registration in the Philippines which it said was “of national historical significance.”
In a brief formal ceremony held at the Bulwagan of the INC Central Office, INC Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo, PhlPost Chairman Cesar Sarino and Postmaster General Ma. Josefina M. dela Cruz unveiled the INC Centennial Commemorative Stamp that featured the sprawling INC Central Temple and a photo of the first INC Executive Minister Felix Y. Manalo in sepia. The colored INC Centennial logo is also placed at the bottom.
The May 10 launching date of the INC stamp was itself significant since it was timed to coincide with the 128th birth anniversary of the late Felix Y. Manalo whom the INC believes is the fulfillment of a biblical prophecy on the “last messenger of God.”
It was also the first time that PhlPost issued a 50-millimeter by 35-mm stamp, which is bigger than the ordinary-sized stamp of 40mm by 30 mm.
“This is not an arbitrary decision,” said Postmaster General Dela Cruz on the issuance of a bigger-than-ordinary “INC Centennial Commemorative Stamp.”
“It passed through the certification of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines,” she said in Filipino. This meant that the INC centennial, including its rich history, was “of national historical significance,” she said.
Dela Cruz said PhlPost will be issuing 1.2 million copies of the INC stamp, which is more than twice the usual maximum number of stamps they had issued before for a single design.
PhilPost usually issues a maximum of 500,000 stamps per batch, or even lower at 300,000 pieces. There are even instances that they only issue 20,000 pieces for a stamp design.
The issuance of 1.2 million INC Centennial stamps was done , she said, to accommodate the expected big number of people who will be interested to buy the stamps, particularly INC members all over the Philippines and INC brethren who would be coming over from other countries this year. The INC centennial stamp, which was designed by INC minister Bienvenido “Dindo” A. Santiago Jr., was made available starting Saturday at P10 a piece so it would be more affordable to the public, PhlPost said.
Dela Cruz said it was “an honor” for PhlPost to issue the INC Centennial Commemorative Stamp, so “we could be a small part of the INC’s celebration of its Centennial this year.”
She also noted how the INC was able to spread in more than 100 countries and territories worldwide, a hundred years since it was first registered by Felix Manalo on July 27, 1914.
“Sa inyong paglaganap at pagpunta sa marami pang mga bansa, nandoon rin at dala ninyo ang tatak ng Pilipino,” Dela Cruz said in her speech before the official unveiling of the INC stamp, as she stressed that the growth of the INC is already a phenomenon in Philippine history.
After the unveiling, Manalo, Dela Cruz and Sarino participated in the ceremonial signing of the INC stamp’s “first day cover.”
The “official first day cover” of the Iglesia Ni Cristo Centennial commemorative stamp. (Courtesy PHLpost)
Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo receives the” official first day cover” of the INC Centennial Commemorative Stamp from Philippine Postal Corporation Chairman Cesar N. Sarino. (Photo courtesy INC Executive News)
Dela Cruz also presented a souvenir frame of the INC Centennial commemorative stamp to the INC leader.
Eduardo V. Manalo is the third executive minister of the INC, succeeding his father, Eraño G. Manalo, who had served as the INC’s leader from 1963 until his death in 2009, during which time the church had spread in more than 100 countries and territories all over the world.
Before this, it was Felix Y. Manalo who first preached about the biblical doctrines of the Iglesia Ni Cristo after secluding himself inside a room for three days and nights in intense prayer and studies of the bible sometime in November 1913. He continued to preach about the biblical beliefs of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, baptized new INC members and on July 27, 1914, the Iglesia Ni Cristo was registered with the Philippine government. Before his death on April 12, 1963, the INC had spread all over the country. The INC believes that the establishment of the Church of Christ in the Philippines on July 27, 1914 that coincided with the start of World War I, is the fulfillment of God’s prophecy on the re-emergence of the Church established by Christ for mankind’s salvation in “these last days.”
In his speech after the official unveiling of the stamp, “Ka Eduardo” said the INC’s string of victories was the “handiwork of God.” He said this is why it is only proper and fitting that in the Church’s celebration of its Centennial on July 27, all INC brethren should give honor and glory to God for making all these victories possible.
Manalo also mentioned the significance of the launching date of the INC Centennial Stamp as part of remembering the INC’s first executive minister Felix Y. Manalo and his ministry, citing a biblical verse, Hebrews 13:7. He also thanked PhlPost on behalf of the INC for issuing the Centennial commemorative stamp.
PhlPost Chair Sarino said the INC is notable for being a “Filipino” Christian religion that had spread throughout the world, exporting the Filipino character and qualities to other countries. He said that being a Filipino himself, he takes pride in this achievement of the INC even if he is a not a member of the Church.
Presently, the INC church membership includes not just Filipinos, but various nationalities all over the world.
Alvin Alcid, chief of the Research, Publications and Heraldry Division of the National Historical Commission noted that not all organizations celebrating their centennial are given a commemorative stamp.
But after a thorough study, the INC centennial had been decided by the Commission to be of national historical significance, particularly because the INC originated in the Philippines and had reached more than 100 countries and territories in its 100 years of existence, he said in an interview after the program.
Alcid said this was why the Commission is also deliberating on issuing a historical marker for the INC Centennial this year, hopefully in time for its 100th anniversary celebration on July 27.
During the program, Dela Cruz also said Philpost is also interested in setting up a “selfie stamp” booth at the Philippine Arena on the centennial celebration of the INC in Bocaue, Bulacan
The INC’s Philippine Arena, which is touted as among the world’s largest domed arenas, will be the center of the Church’s Centennial celebrations on July 27. (Eagle News Service)
PHLPost Postmaster General Josefina Dela Cruz and Assistant Postmaster General Luis Carlos present Pope Francis stamps to His Holiness Pope Francis at the St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The stamps commemorate the Pope’s second year as the leader of the Catholic Church.
