The ‘busyador’ of Pabellon Island



In Sombrero Island (Aborlan, Palawan), I noticed these two boys walking around holding on to the front part of their…

I thought it would be an interesting dynamic to set a budjang (lady) in her colorful, traditional Tausug habul and…

Kenneth Cobonpue. Award-winning designer and furniture maker. Well-known for quirky, nature-inspired handcrafted…

#ProjectLarawan. Profiles of the Filipino. One portrait at a time. Project Larawan is an initiative of Gabriel “Gabby”…

Mang Boy Molejon moved to Bataraza in southern Palawan in the mid-‘70s from Quezon Province. Back then, he would sell…




Busyadores (nest gatherers) scale the high rock faces of Pabellones in Taytay, Palawan to gather the nests of balinsasayaw (swiftlets).
The busyador not only gathers the balinsasayaw nests, but cleans them as well of impurities accumulated inside the caves. A kilo of this delicacy can fetch a price of as much as P170,000 or $2,900.
#ProjectLarawan. Profiles of the Filipino. One portrait at a time.
Project Larawan is an initiative of Gabriel “Gabby” Malvar, a documentary filmmaker, writer and photographer, whose narratives are nuanced with unique, inventive perspectives to provoke an inquisitive look at his favorite subject, the Philippines. Become a part of Filipino identity every other Saturday on the DAILY TRIBUNE.