MANILA, Philippines - Abel is the ilocano term that refers to the process of weaving, while inabel is the final woven product (although the terms are now used interchangeably).

Some of the well-known centers of inabel are Bangar in La Union; Tagudin, Santiago and Vigan in Ilocos Sur; and Paoay, Pinili and Sarrat in Ilocos Norte.

The very name of Tagudin is apparently derived from tagud, a process of scrubbing/combing the cotton yarn using coconut husks.

Paoay and Sarrat are famous for their churches?Church of San Agustin in Paoay and Church of Santa Monica in Sarrat. Both being coastal towns (Paoay on the seashore, Sarrat by Padsan River which drains out to the coast past Laoag), the two are known trading centers from precolonial times.

Interior designer Mel Andino is one of the resource persons in things Ilocano. He says binakol designs, often called ?op-art? because of the optical illusion created by its dizzying design, represent the waves of the sea, and ancient tribes believed the binakol patterns protected them from vicious spirits?hence, their predominant use in the rituals of the upland tribes.

Some say there is no such thing as Tingguian (also called Itneg) weave as the textiles were woven by the Ilocanos. The mountain tribes bartered their gold and beeswax for the fabrics, turning them into works of art with beautiful joinery, for use in their rituals.

Others say, while the Tingguians used to weave most of their fabrics, the patterns were mastered by the lowland Ilocanos, who eventually cornered the market for fabrics. There is room for further research in this area.

Among the Tingguians, the number and quality of blankets and fabrics were indications of family wealth and social standing. The family?s best textiles are exhibited during the wake for a deceased family member.

Because of the difference in manner of use, lowland textiles tend to wear out, while those of the tribes, brought out only occasionally, tend to last longer and in better shape. Present-day collectors make the mistake of attributing the weaving to the owners of the fabrics.

Experts also consider the joinery in upland blankets an indication of location?the borders also signify the boundaries between tribes and towns. The knowledgeable person would know which particular town or community made the blanket from the quality and form of the joinery used, in the same way we can tell where people are from based on word use and accents.

The true expert would be able to identify the particular person who put the blanket together. The decorative aspect of the joinery is a given?with some made to look like a row of spiders, fingernails, circles, triangles.

?Banderado,? ?binakol,? brocade

For Ilocanos, the binandera is the simplest design of all?consisting of stripes on the sides, or in the middle of the fabric. This is probably one of the oldest designs, one that is slowly going out of favor, most users now preferring newer and more elaborate designs. In Ilocos Sur, the design is called cantarinis, and the material was originally used for sailcloths, the same as old binakol weaves.

Binakol is still made in Ilocos Norte, mainly in Sarrat and Paoay; a barrio of weavers west of Vigan also manufactures a thinner variant. Predominantly black or indigo, with patterns in white or cream, binakol is one of the original weaves of Ilocos. Rough and hardy, just like denim, it hardly wears out. There are variants in red, green and yellow, generally considered to have been owned by the richer classes.

The brocade weaves of Santiago are quite elaborate, with some colorful examples. The pinilian?a repeating pattern of stylized geometric figures, leaves, flowers, crabs, horses and even male and female forms?is one of the most representative and is favored by the Tingguians for their ritual blankets. The dinapat, with a ?running design which fits the entire field of the textile,? uses repeating figures of two-headed frogs, rivers, mountains.

While the patterns of Ilocano abel are similar, there are subtle differences in color combinations, and the thickness of the weave?from gossamer mosquito nets to thick brocades and embroidery.

There are myriad shapes?stylized stars, pineapples, grapes, turkeys, horses, even the two-headed eagle (which is not really as strange as it seems because the bird is also one of the symbols of the Augustinians, who were among the first missionaries in the north).

In the Ilocano epic ?Lam-ang,? the hero has a two-headed pet chicken called Gik-gik?suggesting the image of the two-headed eagle, appropriated to illustrate the mythical bird.

The most sophisticated ones are the monotones with very fine and subtle patterns (tiny diamonds within diamonds, circles, squares and other geometric shapes).

Leno is a plain weave, with a literal twist, as patterns are made by twisting a few selected skeins in the process of weaving. This tedious process creates a simple but beautiful material suitable for blankets and clothing.

Ilocano blankets are known for their exuberant colors, but there are also variants in plain white or cream, with embossed designs. Recently consumers have taken a liking for these white-on-white creations?the elaborate designs muted by the unified color.

?Sacred blanket?

The inalson, a white diamond twill weave native to the Tingguians, with stripes on the sides, circular designs on top and bottom, and with joinery of dots and dashes, is among the most valued because of the supernatural character attributed to it. It is ceremonially used during births and is considered ?possessed by spirits.?

Inalson-inspired skirts are still being made in Ilocos Sur, but times being what they are, the dimensions are smaller, and the colors more garish owing to the use of man-made dyes instead of the traditional plant dyes.
(Ilocos Sur and Abra were centers of indigo production during the Spanish colonial era. Tayum, the local word for ?indigo,? is also a place name in Abra, and Tayuman in Manila refers to the trading in the product done there during those times. The bark of the damortis or camachile is traditionally used for the dark crimson/red favored by Ilocanos.)

The northern mountain tribes had some of the richest and most elaborate weaves, some of which have already vanished, like the ikat dyed cotton burial shrouds of the Isinai.

The bandala weave, a simple white cloth with deep-blue line at the sides is a light and almost see-through fabric that is used to this day. A midnight-blue variant, with a white line in the middle, is coarser and is used for funeral rites. They are still woven in the Ilocos lowlands and sold in the Cordillera together with loincloth (ba-ag or bahag).

Rainbow of colors

While Ilocano taste tends to be generally severe, the colors red, yellow, green, blue and their shades figure prominently in abel.

The material used for skirts (pandiling) is specially colorful. Even the predominantly black variants are decorated with bright checks or lines in violet, yellow, red or green. The skirt itself can be more or less straight and tubular, or with a pronounced ?tail? that can be tucked into the waist to form a severe silhouette.

The ladies? tops are usually hand-stitched gossamer creations of fine abaca, cotton or piña cloth. Appliqued or embroidered designs are usually sparse and geometric but there are also elaborate floral samples.

The ensemble is usually completed with matching ring and earrings, gold tamburin necklace (the longer the necklace, the more formal the occasion), and embroidered sapatillas.

The clothing options of the men are limited to pinstripe pants, usually indigo, black or brown, and embroidered jusi or piña for the baro or shirt. Some plaid cotton shirt materials can be quite colorful, complementing the more elaborate ladies? patterns.

The gentleman?s wardrobe is completed with a simple walking stick, and the headgear called kattokong or tabungao (of dried gourd lacquered a deep orange-red, and finished with elaborate basketry inside).

Looking forward

With the ready availability of cheap machine-made fabrics and ready-made clothing, abel was once a dying tradition.

In the ?80s and ?90s, former Rep. Imee Marcos, Irene Marcos Araneta and Liza Araneta Marcos joined forces with local weavers, headed by the late Aida Fernandez, to revitalize this craft through Bagnos, an organization set up to help the weavers produce better fabrics, and to market abel to the world.

Weavers? cooperatives sustain this tradition, with the support of organizations like Gameng Foundation and the Museo Ilocos Norte, which were also established by the Marcoses.

Ilocos Norte Gov. Michael M. Keon supports the abel tradition as part of his initiatives for tourism, along with agriculture, health and education.