TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Behind every colorful weave crafted by Kalinga’s Indigenous Peoples (IP) lies a story of resilience, hope, and survival.
For 30-year-old Chester Lakisa, weaving became his family’s lifeline.
“Weaving saved us,” he said in an interview over the weekend, recalling how he and his wife turned to the craft after an accident left him with an amputated leg.
Once a construction worker in La Trinidad, Lakisa was electrocuted while welding, losing his right leg but surviving against the odds.
“Who would employ someone like me who cannot move properly? We were already having a problem getting funds for survival and money for house rent, aside from the children’s needs, which made us decide to return home to Kalinga and see where fate will bring us,” he shared with the Philippine News Agency.
And on their way to Kalinga, fate took an unexpected turn.
On the bus home, they met Florence Ao-wat, founder of the Kalinga Indigenous Weavers Association (KINWA) – Etnika, who offered to teach them loom weaving.