TEOFILO GARCIA

(BIOGRAPHY)
About Teofilo Garcia
Teofilo Garcia – one of the country’s National Living Treasure and we were
able to have in-depth information on his personal life and timeless craft.
In case you’re wondering what Tabungaw is, it’s an Ilocano term for “Upo”,
also known as Bottle Gourd or White Pumpkin. Teofila Garcia, on the other
hand, is known to be the last of the Tabungaw hat makers, a traditional
headgear made of tabungaw or gourd.
He dedicated most of his life working as a farmer to send his five children
to school. He also devoted his time planting “upo”, his main material in
producing the traditional tabungaw.
It’s said that it takes at least seven days to finish one tabungaw hat, as he
uses only simple hand tools that he designed himself for producing his final
product.
Currently, Teofilo is invited to give talks and demonstrations locally and
abroad. He even opened up his home so people can see some of his
unique creations, and also genuinely teaches local school children the art
of Tabungaw making. Up until now, he’s innovating on his traditional
designs based on inspirations recent travels. He has also developed
unique patterns he learned when he was young.
The tabungaw has polished, and varnished to a bright orange sheen to
make it weather resistant. The headgear is almost takes in 2 decades.
He is the one of the National Living Treasure or “Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan” at the year 2012.
Teofilo Garcia is best known for his work with Tabungaw, a unique,
functional, all-weather headpiece made of native gourd. The native gourd,
locally known as upo, is hollowed out,