AS THE Covid-19 pandemic persists, Lapu-Lapu's guitar industry continues to gently weep.
"We have zero guitar sales since February [2023] started," Jayme Igot Gala, salesman and part-owner of Marilyn Guitar in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City, said in Cebuano. "No one's buying our guitar like before."
Marilyn Guitar, a well-known guitar store in the barangay, is one of many wood-instrument shops in the famed "Guitar Country" Pajac-Maribago strip in the city that still suffers from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cebu is famed for the quality of its musical instruments, especially guitars, a legacy of craftmanship passed down from generations of skilled artisans and luthiers.
The guitar industry in Lapu-Lapu City, specifically, has not only contributed to its economy but also to its culture and identity.
"The [guitar] sales here in Lapu-Lapu really come from tourists. Before the pandemic, the streets are filled with tourists who pass by after they visit resorts. Lahi na gyud karon (it is really different now)," Gala said.
Noel Igot, a salesman at CD Guitar in Barangay Pajac, could not help but compare how different sales were before and after the pandemic struck.