Designer Milo Naval and Grid Magazine Showcases Local Sorsogon Industries

In a beautiful travel video originally released in time with Grid Magazine’s Issue 15, designer and tourism consultant Milo Naval address the handicraft industry in Sorsogon. A province in Bicol usually overshadowed by its neighbor Albay and even its own town Donsol, Sorsogon is a sleepy province boasting with local handicraft talent that only needed guidance and direction to come to its own. 

“There were many hesitations, probably because of their condition in the workplace, feeling not so confident. I feel, you need to push them a little bit. I was asking them to do certain things, sasabihin nila mahirap ‘yan (they’ll say, that’s difficult),” shares Milo of the artisans’ struggles with design innovation. “And then I’d push them, sasabihin ‘ko kaya niyo yan! (I’ll say, you can do it). In the end, they would try.” 

With his designer resort Siama Hotel, Milo enlisted the help of local artisans to create furniture and decoration pieces that give travellers a sense of home and a taste of the craftsmanship that locals can produce with the materials found in their province. Watch the full film, made by Lyka Gonzalez, here. You can also read the full Sorsogon feature on Grid Magazine here, or their guide to Sorsogon, here.