Marinduque, the smallest province in the Southern Tagalog Region, is richly blessed by nature.  Industries have been developed around these resources in the six towns of the province, providing livelihood

opportunities for the people.  One such town, Torrijos, situated in the southeast of Marinduque, prides itself with producing the most interesting handicraft product made from the local buntal fiber-the handwoven buntal place mats.

Buntal is the fiber extracted from the petiole of the buri palm (Corypha elata Roxb.), a plant that has very large fan-shaped leaves usually reaching two meters in length.  The petioles are stout, two to three meters long with margins having hard spines.  Marinduque is one of the three major provinces in the Philippines that produce this fiber.

Torrijos is considered today to be the place where the handloom weaving industry finds better growth prospects as the industry puts added life to the place.  There are about 200 weavers from at least three barangays engaged in weaving using buntal fiber. With skilled hands coupled with creativity,  the weavers of Torrijos are confident that they can face the challenge for world quality products.  They are now able to dream bigger and hope greater for their families and for their beloved town.