Municipality of Pateros

Palaspas

by: Elmer Nocheseda

My fascination with palaspas started with a palm leaf ball my father made me when I was 4 years old. My father created the BOLA with just two coconut palm leaflets. He made it so quickly that I thought it was magic!

Patupat

Like any other curious child I tried to make the ball myself. I found out through the years that there are many forms that could be made out of the coconut leaves.

Four years and four decades later, I have discovered different forms of palm leaf weaving in different parts of the Philippines.

Like the PATUPAT from Santiago City, Isabela Province: and in Dagupan, Calasiao, and Lingayen, Pangasinan:

Like PUSU rice pouches from Cebu, Dumaguete, and Cagayan de Oro which have various shapes like:

Kinasing

Binaki

Inumol

Binalek

Toys could also be made from coconut leaves like the following:

Isdang Dako

Bola

Manuk Manuk

Ibon Ibon

Lahipan

Bituon

Baskets, food containers, and hats could be made as well, such as:

Tambusa

Sinamat

Sambalilo

Selingkat

Freshness is a great part of its beauty and esthetics. Once dried, much is lost.

However, the art of reconstruction begins. We imagine the beauty of the form when it was still fresh, as we invite the power of our senses to recreate its beauty at the time the form was freshly created.

Elmer I. Nocheseda of Pateros, Metro Manila has made collecting palaspas from different towns in the Philippines his lifetime passion. Together with his wife, Dra. Naomi Sotto-Nocheseda, they have a veritable collection of interesting palaspas forms they have collected through the years from different areas in the Philippines.