Journal of Nature Studies 19(1): 66-80 Online ISSN: 2244-5226 FRAMING VERNACULAR MEMORIES OF THE WOMEN FISHERFOLKS: A VANISHING CULTURAL HERITAGE IN NAMAYAN ISLAND, PHILIPPINES 1,4,5 1,2,4 1,3 Elmira Thrina C. Pelayo , Eric B. Zerrudo , and Arlen A. Ancheta 1 The UST Graduate School, España, Manila 2 Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics, UST, Manila 3 Research Center for Social Sciences and Education UST, Manila 4University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila 5 Bulacan State University, Malolos Bulacan *Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT – Pamamaklad (scooping of fish in an enclosed area), depicting the nightlife of the women fisherfolks, is a vanishing cultural heritage that has to be retold in the midst of urbanization. This qualitative study captures the vernacular memories of the women namamaklad, and their fishing practices that crafted their lived experiences in the small island of Namayan, Malolos City, Philippines. Anchored on the framework of vernacular memories, 5 women namamaklad were subjected to non- participant observation and interviews to find meanings put on their fishing practices. Emerging themes include close family relations, enterprising couple, risk from nature and urbanization. Describing the characteristics of women elucidates understanding on the value they put on their fishing practices. Vernacular memories require historical space to highlight the significance of the women in small scale fishing industry. Keywords: cultural heritage, namamaklad, vernacular memories, women fisherfolks INTRODUCTION The term vernacular means different things to many people. It can refer to tales and legends of the streets, urban literature, and history, or traditions of urbanism as expressions of collective memory (Stangl, 2008). Vernacular as used in this paper refers to the heritage of the everyday (Byrne, 2009), primarily intangible heritage, including places and objects. Based on 2003 Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention, intangible cultural heritage is composed of three parts: practices, expressions, and knowledge and skills. Its context includes instruments, objects, artifacts, and cultural spaces, and the owners are the communities, groups, and in some cases, individuals. Due to rapid economic development, the vernacular of the everyday has been pressured by urbanization, technology and environment issues. This paper, using the women namamaklad (manner of fishing boat as instruments, and the estuarial fish corral as cultural space are threatened by development. Moreover, side by side with community intangible heritage is declining participation of the women in corral fishing as they focus on career and education. 66 To cite this paper: Pelayo, E.T.C., Zerrudo, E.B. & Ancheta, A.A. 2020. Framing Vernacular Memories of the Women Fisherfolks: A Vanishing Cultural Heritage in Namayan Island, Philippines. Journal of Nature Studies. 19(1), 66-80. Journal of Nature Studies 19(1) Framing Vernacular Memories of the Women Fisherfolks: A Vanishing Cultural Heritage in Namayan Island, Philippines This paper is significant as it seeks to recognize the role of women as partners in fishing, given the reality that are considered unheard in the fishing industry. It highlights the vernacular memories of the women fisherfolks within the context of urban pressures. It communicates how these vernacular memories capture the difficulties of women amidst economic and environmental backdrop. In the spectrum of economic activities, fishing is considered as one of the most hazardous occupations (Food and Agricultre Organization of the United Nations, 2007) and globally, fishing is considered a masculine activity (Geeji, et al., 2017). The importance of women in fishing is overlooked and de-emphasized as it is considered a male-dominated activity due to exposure of the fisherfolks to the harsh conditions of the sea. Accordingly, Coastal Wiki (2014), in its study on “Women and Social Cohesion in Coastal Communities,” acknowledges women’s vital role and provides significant contributions to the fishing industry, particularly in the social aspects of the fisheries evident on both onshore and offshore activities, specifically on fish production and marketing, and heritage preservation. However, it seems obvious that more-often women remain unrecognized or less recognized by lawmakers and implementers as well as the common people. The perception “fishing as masculine activity” is based on the fact that men are given the opportunity to ride and sail in the fishing boats, and women are expected to tender the needs of their households and anticipated to be waiting for their husbands by the shore. This notion makes a very minimal, if not almost “NO” participation in the catching of fish. Women in the Philippine fishing communities, as practiced worldwide, participate mainly in post- harvest activities. Women are often involved in the gathering and extraction of shells, fishing in rivers using spear like gears, scoop net fishing; these pursuits are considered as near shore activities (Villacorta, 1998). Women from Batan, Aklan (Lopez-Rodriguez, 1996) are considered as secondary workers who assist their husbands in simple fish handling tasks like fish dealing and net repair; while seaweeds cultivators in Calatagan, Batangas find women jobs as supplemental jobs since they see their tasks as extension of their household chores (Arandez-Tanchuling & Durano, 2006). In fishing communities, both men and women have clearly defined the activities to perform on a daily basis. The men take pride in sailing out in the vast sea, tagging along their different types of fishing equipment, while women are more engaged in their household tasks and have seldom or no active participation in actual fishing activity. The superiority of the male gender in the fishery and coastal setting is evident in the fact that fishing involves high-risk activities and usually entails individualized pursuits that require tedious and physical male roles (Browne, 2002). Women’s significant roles in pre- and post-capture activities have been given little attention, which leads to the almost invisibility of women as contributors to the fishing sector. De Silva (2011) stated that in the case of developing countries, due to insufficient capital equipment, women are expected to facilitate fish processing and marketing. Other activities of women include net mending, fish vending, and fish trading. Sumudra (1995, as cited in Medard, et al., 2002) claimed that failure to acknowledge the role of women in the fishing industries is a way of unrecognizing their possible contribution to improve the fishing industry. Therefore, one of the challenges in the fishery sector is the recognition of women empowerment as a salient factor in the coastal resilience, as well as their inclusion in coastal environment. Fishing is a nature-dependent economic activity. It is a life-threatening activity since most of the fisherfolks go out to work in the middle of the night and risk their lives to harvest fish amidst unfavorable working conditions. They are exposed to the cold wind, unstable weather condition, with the stars and dark night as working companions. Together with catching fish are the boats, fishing nets, fishing skills, 67 Journal of Nature Studies 19(1) Pelayo., Zerrudo, & Ancheta patience, strong body, and stable personality. Fishing may be viewed as an ordinary livelihood, and many are unaware of the dangers that go with it. The fishermen’s role is to bring food on the table, but the harshness of their working conditions is not reflected on the food they catch for the people. The culture attached to fishing is unrecognized, as they are framed as routinary and ordinary; but the fisherfolks, the sea, the boat, the nets, and the skills form part of the vernacular heritage that needs to be valued as they are significant parts of fishing cultural practices. The women namamaklad go beyond the harvesting and marketing of fish. The Manila Bay estuary, as the spatial and cultural platform of the undocumented experiences of the women in corral fishing, forms parts of the vernacular heritage in the small fishing island of Namayan. The sorting experiences of the women articulate their difficulties of fishing in the middle of the night, their patience with nature, the love for family, and need for economic survival. The sorting of the fish harvest as the layer of experience frames an understanding to the “night life” of the women fisherfolks in the estuarial fishing ground as the “workplace”. In the long run, however, the number of women namamaklad is declining as younger women lose interest due to risk-taking conditions. The objective of the paper is to understand the vernacular memories of the women namamaklad in a small fishing island along the estuarial Manila Bay. Specifically, it sought to describe the characteristics of women namamaklad with their fishing gears and boats. It also intends to describe the nature of their fishing engagements. Moreover, the study aims to explore on the narratives of women and find meanings in their fishing experiences. MATERIALS AND METHODS This qualitative study is part of an ethnographic-exploratory research conducted on women fisherfolks and their engagement with the everyday heritage. This is due to the fact that they are taken for granted as they are commonly given minor fishing-related tasks. Ethnography is a qualitative design where the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language