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Lino Dalay did not have a clear business plan when he started
setting up shop almost a decade ago on a narrow street in Paete,
Laguna, the country’s wood carving capital.
What he had, however, were the stuff and the
skills to sell—tons of used movie props and sets accumulated from
over 18 years as a production designer for big local films like Lola
Basyang, Stupid Cupid, and Halimaw sa Banga, and even the Tom
Cruise-starrer Born on the Fourth of July that had location shoots
in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
Every wall, nook and cranny of his little
heritage shop is filled with bittersweet memories of things old,
forgotten or dying, like the local film industry. “At the height
of the industry’s popularity, I used to design for four to five
films a year. Now, I’ll be lucky to have one film assignment. So I
thought of turning this into a business,” he said.
Despite the uncertainty of turning his movie
props into a viable venture, Lino pursued his passion and set up Ang
Buhay at Hugis sa Paete at No. 5 J.V. Quesada Street in Paete. Upon
invitation by the Department of Trade and Industry’s regional
office, he attended the “Show Me, Teach Me, SME” program
conducted by BPI Foundation.
It was in the seminar where he learned the
basics of financial management, how to properly price his products
and services, and keep his overhead costs down. “I used to spend a
lot on raw material because I consider this as a high level of
visual art. Now I have a clearer view of my pricing strategy,” he
said.
When his shop first opened, the towering statue
of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the colorful variety of local fruits
strewn on the floor—all made of paper maché—initially drew both
curious passersby and local customers. His 77-year-old mother, Marta
Madridejos, who helps make the fruits, found this quite amusing.
“They would even haggle for a tumpok and pinch the bananas and
rambutans until they’d realize they were not real fruits,” she
said.
Name it, Lino has it—from the masks for the
Turumba Festival in Pakil, Laguna, the Moriones Festival in
Marinduque to those worn in the mardi gras in Venice, Italy; from
the traditional bakya (clogs) made by his ancestors in Paete, to the
colorful fruits made out of paper maché displayed in a Philippine
festival at the Louvre Museum in Paris in the 1990s.
After more than five years, his shop is slowly
being discovered by caterers, festival organizers and companies in
need of set designs for product launches and corporate events. Lino
has even designed and supplied the props for an 18-wheeler festival
float that took two months to make and graced the cover of a popular
magazine. His wares are still considered novelty items and have yet
to take off but Lino said he has a higher purpose for staying in the
business.
“I want to preserve this to pay tribute to my
ancestors in Paete so future generations would know the richness of
their heritage,” said Lino. He is currently doing an indie film
documenting the life of an artisan in Paete.
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