'One flower at a time'

Amidst the country’s struggle against the effects of Ondoy, housewives, students, women on their days-off have banded together to produce the Galing Pinas bag.

Galing may be pronounced and interpreted two ways: galing (meaning “from”) and galing (meaning “great!”), so Galing Pinas may mean “from the Philippines” or “how great is the Philippines!”

Eliza Romualdez-Valtos, who started the home-based production of Galing Pinas Bags with her househelp and their (the househelp’s) neighbors even before Ondoy, says she wants to help these women, “one beaded flower at a time.” Made out of beads, shells and indigenous materials, each Galing Pinas bag is a work of art. There are no two bags alike.

Eliza is definitely not poor. But even before Ondoy, she was feeling the pinch due to the global recession and decided earning extra income, regardless of her demographic, was not a bad idea.

 “It was the end of the school year for my son William and his classmate was leaving the country after her dad’s contract had ended,” Eliza recalls. “His teacher Ms. Holt was also going back to the UK. Earlier on, my husband Billy and I agreed to be cautious with our spending until we get a sense of how this latest economic downturn would turn out. So, when it came to buying goodbye gifts for William’s classmate and teacher, I decided to make something for them instead.”

Eliza decided to embellish locally-made bags, wiring beads and forming them into what would have normally been the pattern for a typical Pinoy burda — flowers and leaves. When friends saw her bags they asked where they could purchase one and when they found out she made them, they began placing orders.

“At first, it took me a week to finish one bag, since I did everything from wiring and forming the beads, assembling the design, attaching the design to the bag. So, I trained my household staff to do the wiring and forming,” shares Eliza.

The demand for the bags grew and Eliza started to outsource. “I asked my girls during their days-off to go back to their respective communities and find me stay-at-home moms who would be willing to do the work. Soon, more and more stay-at-home moms were approaching them, along with their children, for work. My girls explained that these women were asking for work since wiring and forming beads allowed them to supplement their husbands’ income for baon, transpo of the kids, etc. Young girls and working women on their days-off from work also started beading.”

Eliza then bought the book 21 Steps to Jumpstart Your Business, a GoNegosyo book authored by Dean Pax Lapid and Ping Sotto (husband of Eliza’s high school chum Valerie Mayor). “It became my Bible!” she exclaims.

“It wasn’t hard to come up with the name Galing Pinas,” continues Eliza. “The designs and choices of bags and materials are made by me. I am Filipino and very proud of it. The idea of being able to come up with something positive and beautiful from a state of frustration, physical hardship, a life of subsistence, is amazing. I liked the idea of Galing having two meanings — ‘from’ and ‘great.’ It adheres to my belief that anything that you create or do should be galing (great). At least we always have to strive for our actions to be galing!”

The income generated from the production of the Galing Pinas bag, which is very labor-intensive, has augmented many an urban poor housewife’s income. To Eliza, the extra income it gave her househelp and their neighbors was empowerment. “It has allowed mothers to maintain some sort of normalcy in their children’s lives by way of small treats and indulgences in a country where most children are increasingly growing accustomed to having none.”

At present, three communities (Consular in Taguig, Balintawak and Batong Malake in Laguna) help produce the Galing Pinas Bags.

The designs found on the Galing Pinas Bags are heavily influenced by Filipino, Chinese and classic French embroidery. “And every beaded design created on a framed mesh has been firmly secured by hand on each bag, which are lined with the sturdy hand-woven Abel Iloco fabric.”

“My embellishments certainly will not appeal to the minimalists out there but it is true to who I am, to my aesthetics, to my sense of humor and character. I definitely am not pretending to be or trying to look like another bag because I assure you, there is nothing like this out there,” she laughs. “There are those who see it with their heart and sense the energy and love behind its construction, who utter the word ‘beautiful’ to describe the Galing Pinas bag.”

Eliza is a niece of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, who is known the world over for her shoes. In a very different way, who knows? This other Romualdez may just end up almost as famous — this time, for her bags.

“I wouldn’t mind the analogy (with Imelda and her shoes) because we all have to do our little bit in whatever way we know how to provide an opportunity for people to earn a decent living that could help them pave a path for a better life in the future. One of the many ways Imelda did it, was with her shoes and I would be honored to be able to continue to help others with my bags. My aunt was given the heavy burden of learning to accept the cost of her contributions to the humanity of man as a whole, and she has continued to wear her shoes with honor, dignity and pride. I have learned a lot from her. Sadly, at this point in time, I don’t get to keep my bags but I am still very happy to sell them and be dignified and proud nonetheless, from afar,” concludes Eliza.

For inquiries, text or call Eliza Valtos at 09178918941.

(You may e-mail me at [email protected])