Sandugo is a visayan word meaning one blood.

This painting represents a native woman (Mangyan) walking along the rice field carrying a baby on her left arm and a basket full of fruits like saba, calamansi and papaya on her back. These are the main crops you can find on the Island of Mindoro.

Kalap (to gather) Festival celebrated every March 21 in Calapan City Or. Mindoro where I was born.

During old times people gather woods to provide warmth and cook food.

It is intended to be yearly celebration packed with performances, colourful floats, and most significant of all, history.

Photo reference:

Calapan Tourism

Salakót is a traditional lightweight headgear used for protection against sun and rain. They are made from various materials including bamboo, rattan, nito, ferns, and bottle gourd. The tip of the crown commonly has a spiked or knobbed finial made of metal or wood. It is held in place by an inner headband and a chinstrap.It is also spelled as salacot in Spanish and salacco inFrench. It is the direct precursor to the pith helmet (also called salacot in Spanish and French) widely used by European military forces in the colonial era.

Magsasalakot are the people who make salakot. During my childhood me, my family and neighbours were fabricating salakot, always under time pressure to finish in time, in order to be able to buy rice at the end of the day.

While painting, all kind of nice memories came up in my mind.