MASTER lantern maker Roland Quiambao said the lantern industry in Pampanga has been experiencing a mixture of ups and downs during this pandemic as small and medium lantern makers are trying to hurdle the challenges brought about by the ongoing restrictions.
Quiambao said while the demand for lanterns this season is more or less the same, it’s the smaller lantern makers who are feeling the effects of the pandemic due to lack of capital, and the early lockdowns have snatched much of the time needed to preposition orders.
“We have lantern makers who have benefitted from the online selling trend, but it’s those who can’t keep up with the trend, those who lack networks and capital who are most affected,” Quiambao said.
He added that some bigger lantern makers have been outsourcing some of their orders with smaller lantern makers to spread the load work and keep workers fed.
Quiambao said there should be a concerted effort on the part of the government to look into the status of smaller lantern makers who are feeling the greatest negative effects of the pandemic on their businesses.
An officer of the City of San Fernando (Pampanga) Lantern Makers Association (CSFPLMA), Quiambao said the Metro Manila market alone could not be saturated by all lantern makers and companies in Pampanga combined.
He added that local officials and companies are not foregoing decorations this year just to keep spirits high amid the pandemic.
“There is a very big market, not just during the Christmas Season but throughout the year. There is only the need to expand the lantern lines and transform them into other decorative art for events like Valentine’s and even Halloween,” Quiambao added.
Quiambao said the lantern industry is also in need of innovators to upgrade the quality of the lanterns to meet international standards. This would enable the San Fernando lantern to go into international production that are within the strict safety standards of big countries abroad.
“It is also the dream of the lantern community that we'd be given a showcase center for our lantern products all year round,” Quiambao said, adding that the lantern industry should be included in the tourism promotion of the province all throughout the year and not just during Christmas.
Quiambao is also advocating and urging lantern makers to teach the craft to other sectors in the community. For Quiambao, community empowerment is their way of uplifting culture, as well as transferring the technology that could never be learned in formal schooling.
“This is also a way of giving back to our community the opportunity to learn, and possibly to even make it big with this kind of craft,” Quiambao said.