#palengkera

“Because with photography, there is no gender, there’s no age, there’s no social status, color or race.” – Xyza Cruz Bacani

As we always say, never underestimate the passion that burns within each and everyone of us. We may have normal lives and do normal things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be extraordinary.

PALENGKERA AND PROUD OF IT.

Palengke is a typical public market in the Philippines. The word is most likely derived from the Spanish palenque- a pathway or cluster of tables set up at some place of gathering such as a theatre, tournament or market (thanks, Wiki). It is and has always been part of Philippine culture, although these days their existence is very much threatened by modern shopping malls. The palengke is a place where micro entreprenuers thrive. It is arguably the oldest form of organized trade in the country and the quintessential Filipino venue for commerce.

A palengkera, then, is a woman who engages in the market. Over the years, mostly because of the type of promotions vendors employ - shouting at the top of their lungs or nagging passerby to purchase their merchandise - the word’s had a negative connotation. Now the noun is used as an adjective associated with being uneducated, crass, wild, and loud. It has turned an honest living into something to be undesired.

This what we want to change. We believe there is dignity in hard, honest labor. We want to give back the word palengkera or palengkero to these Filipinos who are just trying to make a living. We want these people, who have been perceived as lowly or poor, to feel pride in their profession.

Just as a palengkera engages in local trade, so, too, does our company. We source our products from different parts of the country and we meet with every supplier we have. We deal mostly with micro and small businesses, associations, cooperatives, foundations, charities, and other social groups. We practice fair trade. Our soon-to-open coffee shop is envisioned to be a venue where other micro entreprenuers can sell their products; a place where the produce is sourced from palengkes or directly from the farmers. More than that, it will be a market- a place of exchange - of ideas, talent, and creativity.

We have been told that our name is ‘offensive’. Offensive to whom? Offensive to the people who work in markets? Or offensive to those who make the word derogatory? Does Mujer al Mercado ring easier in your ears? Because it means exactly the same thing, only said in a colonial language. There is nothing offensive about a person who wakes up before the crack of dawn to arrange her merchandise, sells hard more than twelve hours a day in a place with really tough competition - to the point where she has to yell at customers to get them to buy her products and not the ten other neighbors’, closes shop, and goes home to her family where she will most likely be the one cooking their meals and tending to their needs.

It’s also been called ‘too pedestrian’. And to that we say - well, what’s wrong with that? Some of the best foods we’ve tasted are ‘of the streets’. We celebrate and party and weep and fight and overthrow governments in our streets. We even spend a good deal of time on the streets (no thanks to congested traffic).

Along EDSA in Makati there are murals on pillars supporting fly-overs (roads on top of other roads). They’re paintings of men and women of different professions, aimed to instill pride and dignity in labor. They read “Nurse ako” (I am a nurse), “Magsasaka ako” (I am a farmer), “Pintor ako” (I am a painter).