Justino 'Paloy' A. Cagayat Jr. is a third-generation woodcarver from Paete, Laguna. His father taught him how to work on wood when he was 8 years old. Back then, Saturdays were spent playing half of the day and the other half carving. Even after finishing a degree and securing a license in Mining Engineering, Paloy returned to woodcarving and ended up managing a branch of the family business. His shop specializes in religious images and supplies parish churches. Unlike the woodcarvers before them, the artisans in Paloy’s workshop have better tools and glues at their disposal, facilitating and improving production. To ensure the continuity of the business, he has been training all his three sons to carve. How the woodcarving tradition and the family business would stand in the hands of his sons may be too early to tell. For the meantime, woodcarving in Paete is alive and well. But issues of wood supply urgently needs to be resolved if the artisans are to carry the woodcarving tradition into the next generation. 

“Sa pag-uukit nakilala ang bayan ng Paete. Nakakatulong sa hanapbuhay.. Naiiba kami sa nakararami kasi may ‘uniqueness’ yung aming bayan. Lumipat ka lang ng bayan, wala nang mag-uukit.”

name:

Justino 'Paloy' A. Cagayat Jr.

Tagalog

Paete, Laguna 

Woodcarving

Chisel and Mallet,  

craftwork:

Religious images, various woodcarvings