Tita Luvizminda – a lady who has been weaving for 50 years

Written by Traceline Choo

Photographs by Melissa Chia

Me (right) interviewing Tita Luvizminda with the help of Zherluck as a translator.

    I was honored to interview Tita Luvizminda Jacoba, a 61 year old weaver who has been weaving for more than 50 years.  She is currently working at Lola Rutina, Iloilo.  The weaving skills that Tita acquired could be best described as a “gift” that had been passed down from generation to generation since her grandmother’s years.  She as a mother of seven has also passed down her weaving skills to all seven of her children, one of whom is Ate Jovelyn Jacoba, also a weaver who works at Lola Rutina.

Ate, me and Tita at Lola Rutina.

    Weaving, in the Iloilo city, could be seen as an important feature of the city, considering it is also known as a ‘textile capital’. The weavers are mostly women who weave for a living.  “I am able to weave 2.5 meters per day and through weaving, I am able to earn PHP 100 per meter,” said Tita Luvizminda.  Tita describes the process of weaving as rewarding and that it is the only means for her to earn a salary.  “I do not have much education and I tried selling chickens in Manila but it did not work out.”  When asked about whether her grandmother wove for a living, Tita emphasized that weaving was the sole means of “survival” as jobs are really hard to find with no proper education.    

Tita weaving at her loom

“Weaving is actually very easy.  It only took my daughter a few weeks to learn the basic skills of weaving”,  stated Tita Luvizminda.  Tita’s hometown is in Tigbauan and she stayed there until moving to Iloilo city upon marriage. She sees her weaving as a civic contribution by way of keeping one of the city’s traditions alive.  

Tita Luvizminda, was kind enough to share some background knowledge of the weaving industry of her hometown in Tigbauan.  As explained by Tita, Tigbauan used to have only one weaving company run by a Chinese family.  However, when the founder of the weaving company passed away, the entire company shut down as the owner’s children were not keen on the business and so ceased operations.

I asked whether Tita has ever weaved for any prominent people before. She shook her head but said something and gave a slight smile after it.  I could not understand what Tita said and what that smile was for at first, but after my translator translated, I instantly understood why.  Tita was saying that she had actually woven her own wedding dress when she got married many years ago.  That much happiness and love could be seen in the old lady’s facial expression and I was touched by it.  Not only by the fact that she had tailored her own wedding dress to get married to the man she had seven children with, but also by the knowledge that a woman would rather prefer a traditional wedding dress to a white gown of the Western style which was already fashionable in her time. I wanted to see a picture of the wedding dress but she said that she did not have it with her as the interview was held at such short notice, something which I could completely understand.     

        

It is probably true what most people say about woven costumes not being as comfortable as cotton ones, but as Tita Luvizminda highlighted, they are both completely different.  Woven costumes are traditional, and therefore differ from the contemporary attire.  To elaborate on Tita’s point, she would most probably agree that traditions are the roots of the nation, and that no matter how comfortable or trendy today’s fashion is; nothing beats the good old weave of hers.   

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Tracy is a 2nd year Communication student who will be on study exchange to Australia and Europe in 2013.  She has been an advertising intern in Malaysia and Singapore, as well as contributor to the cover page of the Monash International Magazine (MIMA) 2012 issue.  Upon graduation, she is determined to pursue a career in the field of mainstream media.