The Many Beautiful Uses for Banig

I recently went to Cebu City for a convention and during my stay at my aunt's home, I immediately noticed a quaint and pretty bag she hung in the guest bedroom. It's a bag made of banig which she bought at Eva Adona's shop in Basey, Samar when she visited relatives (our side) last month. It would look great with a summer outfit and is a steal at P450.00.

Banig is actually the end-product of tikog, a reed plant that grows in forests and riceland. The stems are dried and then flattened to be woven into the finished product which is the banig. The banig was mostly used as a sleeping mat but budding entrepreneurs such as the Adona couple of Basey, Samar saw the potential of the material and parlayed this business "third-eye" into a thriving handicraft business exporting products to the United States and other countries apart from the local market.

Ms. Adona's store is chockfull of handicfrafts made from the versatile banig. She has floormats, rugs and slippers as well as other household items made more colorful with dye-soaked banig. Auntie B___ also bought a a geometric-designed circular rug which she used in her lanai. Its a good alternative to the more popular Persian rugs for household with asthma sufferers like mine.

(Some information sourced from www.truthforce.info)