Tags: Travel Tales and Tips
By Lawrence Casiraya
CARAMOAN, CAMARINES SUR – It began as a hobby for Diezebel Morano until more and more tourists began asking to buy her unique bottled souvenirs.
Diezebel, a housewife with two kids, recycles discarded bottles and fills them with sand taken from Matukad Beach in Caramoan. Matukad, in particular, is popular for its powdery white sand.
After laying the sand to dry completely under the sun, she uses ordinary dyes to give each bottle streaks of color and decorates the bottles with beads, trinkets and other local materials.
I saw these colorful bottles on display by chance when stopped by her sari-sari store.
“I started making these (bottled souvenirs) about three years ago. I thought of unique souvenirs that tourists can bring home with them instead of the usual T-shirts and keychains,” she says.
The bottles sell for P150 to P200 depending on the size. Each bottle takes her an hour to make, which she does on her spare time often while tending to her small store, located in the main road in Barangay Tawog.
Half a sack of sand can already fill several bottles. Boatmen also sell her discarded bottles, sometimes picked up from the islands. Thus, her small enterprise somehow helps clean up the beaches from debris often left by tourists.
Diezebel also makes and sells other items like necklaces made of sea shells and other decorative displays. But the bottled sand souvenirs remain her best sellers.
“I sell a lot of these during our town fiesta (every May) and during the entire summer which brings a lot of visitors here. There are also foreigners who buy these. I’m just happy that they get to bring home something that would remind them about Caramoan.”
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May i refer you to:
http://www.chanrobles.com/republicacts/republicactno8550.html
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8550
February 25, 1998
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION OF THE FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCES, INTEGRATING ALL LAWS PERTINENT THERETO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
which states:
Sec. 92. Ban on Muro-Ami Other Methods and Gear Destructive to Coral Reefs and Other Marine Habitat
“It shall likewise be unlawful for any person or corporation to gather, sell or export white sand, silica, pebbles and any other substances which make up any marine habitat.
The person or corporation who violates this provision shall suffer a penalty of two (2) years to ten (10) years imprisonment and a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) or both such fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the court. The substance taken from its marine habitat shall be confiscated.”