MIAGAO, Iloilo—Tucked among the ancient trees and mountains in this town is Barangay Cagbang, where tradition thrives in the clay molded patiently by its people for generations.

The homegrown art and soul of pottery have kept alive not only the local culture but also the community’s livelihood.

To reach Cagbang, one travels some 40 kilometers south of Iloilo City via the Iloilo-Antique Road. The highway traverses the coastal towns of Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal and Miagao. Past the historic Miagao Church, it turns inland into narrow roads that snake through the hilly terrain of Cagbang. The final stretch of the trip is a beautiful uphill drive to where pieces of earth are made into art.

The highly skilled potter Josie Fortugana, 67, lives in the heart of Cagbang.  He has dedicated his life to preserving the local culture through pottery. His family, along with the rest of the community, has been making pottery for generations.

Cagbang has long been known as a major pottery center in Iloilo, being the only source in the whole province of traditional earthenware such as the banga (water jars), kalan (stoves), and kulon (cooking pots).

Family business

“The pottery tradition began with our elders,” Tatay (father) Josie told CoverStory, speaking in the local language. “My mother started making pottery when she was 12 years old. She learned the craft and mastered it until she married my father, who also knew how to make pottery. You could say it’s a family business and a true part of our family.”

“This has been our livelihood for decades, and I’ve been helping with the work since I was a child. It’s how we make a living,” he said.

Tatay Josie’s mother, Enriquita Tantioco Fortugana, made headlines back in 2013 as the oldest surviving potter from Cagbang until she died at 93. Her legacy paved the way for the recognition of Cagbang’s traditional pottery, which is now one of Miagao’s tourism draws.

While Tatay Josie focuses on traditional pots, one of his nephews, Rey F. Cabatingan, pursues the beauty of figurative clayware.

Living workspace

The entire Cagbang is a living workspace, with many homes continuing the craft as their main means of livelihood. Tatay Josie spends most of the day in his workshop, a humble hut that stores half-used clay, sharp tools, and a battered DIY pottery wheel. Pottery items, both finished and unfinished, occupy every corner of the workshop.

The mountains and their rich soil are the source of raw materials for the village craftsmen, who follow practices and methods predating modern machinery. The process involves rigorous steps to ensure high-quality earthenware.

Raw brown soil is dug and collected from a slope near where they live, but which can be reached after an arduous climb—a challenge, especially for the elderly potters who make up the majority of the artisans. The land is not theirs; they pay ₱100 a month for access to the area.

“You have to dig the earth because the clay used for pottery is the one from deep below, not the one on top,” Tatay Josie explained. “The top part, with stones, has a lot of textures, unlike the one underneath which is soft and fine. This process is what we call ‘dakot.’”

At the workspace, the haul undergoes the traditional preparation of kneading by foot to soften the soil enough to turn into clay for molding.

“We stomp on the clay, then sprinkle it with water as we go to soften it up,” he said. “This phase is called ‘lubak,’ and it’s how we create the clay we’ll use for shaping. After that, we shape it on the pottery wheel.”

Shaping the clay is the highlight of pottery-making; it is an intricate process and requires keen attention to detail. Tatay Josie uses a cloth to smooth the edges and corners of the clay, as well as to form it into his desired shape. Each turn of the wheel, along with the evolving figure, becomes a piece born out of passion.

The molded pots are left in the sun for three days or more, depending on the weather, until they are bone-dry. Tatay Josie then applies a natural earth pigment called “hibo” or “lupang pula,” which is said to have been used since prehistoric times for body paint, cave art and decorative purposes. The pigment comes from pulverized fine dust mixed with water to produce a dense fluid that serves as natural paint.

Tatay Josie wields a special translucent, crystalline stone to erase the pot’s rough texture and polish it for a soft, smooth appearance.

The last step of the indigenous process is cooking the pot in the ground kiln called “pagba.”  Stones serve to elevate the pots in the kiln, with a bamboo framework for support. The fire is lit underneath with “paklang” or coconut leaves; “dagami” or grass and “labhang“ rice stalks are placed atop the pots to trap the heat.

Cooking the pots requires constant attention, as the bamboo support must be watched and replaced to prevent the entire structure and the pots from collapsing.

Challenges

Being a traditional potter like Tatay Josie is not easy. Time, a declining number of customers, and modern ways of pottery are the biggest challenges. His products are priced lower when bought directly from his home than in city markets.

“Our pots are sold at low prices so that many people will buy them,” he said, hoping that this could draw more customers.

In Tatay Josie’s workshop, the value of a pot is set by its size and kind. Small earthenware souvenirs can be had for ₱20, while the medium pieces sell for ₱50–₱75. The huge, tall pots, which require tedious labor, cost between ₱700 and ₱1,000. For a full collection, a set of three sells for ₱2,000.

The meager profit from these sales is just enough to sustain his family’s daily needs.

Decreasing demand and limited access to buyers explain why the Cagbang potters are slowly losing market recognition. They are even outperformed by the makers of hablon (a hand-woven textile material made with a traditional wooden loom called “tiral”), who live closer to the town proper.

Moreover, the younger people of Cagbang are losing motivation to learn and continue making pots due to the hardships of work.

But despite the market decline and the youth’s waning interest, Tatay Josie continues to make pottery in order to preserve his mother’s legacy. To him and his calloused hands, heritage and culture are the soul of his community, giving Cagbang an identity that will resonate through time.