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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
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 papier-mâché —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 rambutan 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 papier-mâché 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. | 
