Spelt CAHOY  in Mentridas’s  1628 lexicon, the word was meant to signify  “madera” or wood in general, or log of wood used for sculpting ( “esculpe”). The lexicon also identifies wood for making houses, and wood used for burning.  In explaining the native word LILOC, Mentrida includes several ways this included working with wood: when the “Indios” or natives would write or engrave their letters on wood, especially on bamboo; or when someone “esculpe como madero o tabla o en que se pinta como lienzo o tabla.” 

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In this video, Floy Quintos and  Emil Marañon have a discussion on the nuances of the wooden sculpture traditions of the Visayas. They  specifically look at the  various wood-carving traditions of the Sto. Niño  in the Visayas.

Floy Quintos Although he is more popularly known as a Playwright and Director, Floy Quintos has devoted a good part of his life to the study of The Traditional Art and Culture of the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines. His essays on aspects of Ifugao art have been published, most notably, in “The PHILIPPINES: Archipelago of Exchange” (Musee d’ Quai Branly,2013), “Tabayag: Lime Containers of the Cordillera from the BENCAB Collection “, “Provenance: Ramon Tapales” and ” Consuming Passions.”

Emil Marañon III is an election and human rights lawyer based in Manila, Philippines. Outside of his law practice, he is an avid collector and a rising scholar extensively writing about Philippine material culture from colonial santos, indigenous art to Philippine-found early trade ceramics.