La Union’s traditional weaving town attracts shoppers, young artisans

LA UNION, Philippines – Phil Marie Nogueras-Lucina, general manager of Nogueras Weaving, hit on an idea last year of incorporating their famous Bangar weaves into ukay-ukay (second-hand) jackets.

She would scan Facebook Marketplace for denim jackets and long sleeves and purchase them. She would then ask her sewers to patch their inabel (the Ilocano word for finished handwoven cloth) into the clothes. Some of the clothes were already distressed, so Lucina would incorporate the weaves into denim.

Launching her new line of denim jackets with inabel accents at La Union’s Fairest in Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong last November, she was surprised that they were a hit.

On her first day, 10 jackets were sold. After the fair, she sold almost 50.

This new line of inabel is now a mainstay at Nogueras Weaving in Bangar. And this is among the innovations that Bangar town has been infusing to promote their handwoven textile in the expanding inabel market.

On December 8, the municipality unveiled the Phase 2 Shared Service Facility, an expansion meant to fortify the production of Abel Bangar and to steady an industry confronting the twin pressures of aging artisans and a changing market.

The facility, funded through a P511,000 grant from the Department of Trade and Industry under its Shared Service Facility program and a P2-million counterpart from the local government, offers common workspaces and upgraded equipment. It is expected to directly benefit nine micro, small, and medium enterprises and more than 600 active loom weavers, according to municipal estimates.

Inside, the improvements are practical rather than flashy: better-organized production areas, more efficient machinery, and room to experiment. Together, officials say, these changes will allow weavers to expand beyond the blankets and pillowcases long associated with inabel and into higher-value products like shawls, bags, pouches, leis, and embroidered souvenir pieces aimed at tourists and overseas buyers.

Through more coordinated production, the town hopes to increase output, improve quality, and extend the reach of Abel Bangar into both domestic and international markets.

The launch also marked the formal registration of “Abel Bangar” as a collective mark with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, a step intended to protect the textile’s authenticity and guard against imitation. For a craft deeply tied to place, the legal recognition carries symbolic weight.

Yet infrastructure alone cannot secure the future of an industry whose practitioners are growing older.

“There are about 600 loom weavers in town, and 20% to 30% are elderly,” said Rodrigo Sarmiento Jr., Bangar’s public employment service officer. “Encouraging the young remains a challenge.”

In Bangar, weaving is both livelihood and inheritance, passed down through families and practiced on the traditional wooden loom known locally as the tillar.

In 2024, the provincial government, through its tourism office, partnered with the Abel Academy: School of Living Traditions at Nogueras Weaving to conduct a three-day training program for aspiring weavers.

Participants were immersed in the basics, like operating the tillar, learning foundational patterns, and understanding the cultural history embedded in each thread.

The effort also led to the formation of the Young Loomweavers Association of Bangar, or YLAB, a group aimed at safeguarding and promoting the craft.

Phil Marie, the association’s president, said younger weavers see both beauty and possibility in the tradition.

“It’s really beautiful, and the next generation should be able to experience this,” she said, speaking in Filipino. “We need to preserve it because we want it to continue.”

Lucina and her fellow members have begun thinking beyond customary products. Instead of focusing solely on blankets and pillowcases, they are exploring hats, headbands, and dresses – pieces that adapt to current fashion trends while retaining traditional patterns.

Bangar’s inabel textiles, known for their breathability and durability, are well-suited to the country’s shifting weather, she added.

Still, institutionalizing that interest has proved difficult. The Abel Academy training was not continued in 2025 because of low enrollment. Sarmiento said the local government had hoped to integrate weaving into the senior high school curriculum, possibly under special arts programs, but the technical requirements remain unclear.

Even so, support continues in smaller, steady ways: annual assistance, marketing help, and product development training conducted with national agencies. 

Department of Trade and Industry Acting Provincial Director Victoria Ordoño said her office would continue working with the local government and partners to expand skills training, encourage product innovation, and broaden market access.

She also issued a gentle challenge to the next generation. “The future of Abel Bangar depends on new artisans who are willing to learn and carry the tradition forward,” she said. – Rappler.com