Palm Grass Hotel Transforms “Firewood” Into World-Class Furniture

Every Thing about this hotel intends to transform the ordinary into extra-ordinary.

True to its vision that it wants to leave a legacy of being a green hotel, the management of the first heritage hotel here in Cebu breaks another record of being the first hospitality establishment to use ‘salvaged’ wood into a world-class headboard.

Bebilou Espina, hotel manager of Palm Grass said the idea to use what was once the flooring of the old house of Caridad Tan Guivelondo and Mamerto Arcilla Blanco was brought about by one of their grandchildren who thought of recycling it.

Espina said there were at least 2 contractors who rejected the idea for sheer disbelief. It was unspeakable for a hotel to even think of the idea.

“It was not a welcome suggestion and there were two contractors who have rejected the concept of using the junk slabs from the old house,” she said.

But here comes a local craftsman, furniture maker Esmeraldo Bancale who took the challenge of recycling what he calls as “kahoy igsusugnod” or firewood into a world-class headboard.

Cebuano furniture maker Esmeraldo Bancale points to the pile of wood that will be used to make the headboard. Bancale welcomes the “challenge” of transforming these wood into something new and different that not a trace of it as a “pile of junk” can be seen.

“No one will really dare use firewood because engineers will normally look for expensive raw materials. But I took the challenge of doing the unusual,” Nong Esme, as how he is fondly called, said with a mix of a chuckle.

Esmeraldo’s team of craftsmen includes members of his family who are ensconced in a community at Soong Center in Mactan, LapuLapu City.

Asked to check on the type of wood that was salvaged from the old house, he said it included Yakal and Apitong – considered rare wood species in the country. Cutting these trees is now considered unlawful.

“Maayo man gyud ni nga mga kahoy pero mao lagi igsusugnod na. Adto ganing usang adlaw nangduol ang mga silingan kay nangutana kun pwedi mangayo kay ilang ihaling,” (These are really good type of wood but it’s already good to use as firewood. The other day, some of our neighbors approached me and ask if they can get some of the wood to use as fire wood) Esmeraldo said in jest.

Interestingly, Esmeraldo’s origins as a lumad of Mactan bore a curious twist to the history of Cebu and his contribution to Palm Grass history.

Asked if he was related to the legendary Filipino hero Lapulapu, Esmeraldo heartily laughed at the question.

“Na ambot, wala jud ko kabalo ana kay wala man gani ko ana kadumdom anang istorya ni Lapu-lapu,” (I really don’t know. I don’t even remember about the story of Lapulapu) he said.

But he shared a part of his past where he joined locales in search of treasures he think is part of Cebu’s past.

According to him, sometime in the 1990s, two men who called themselves ‘treasure hunters’ were in Brgy. Soong urging men to scourge the shorelines of Mactan for some lost treasures.

Esmeraldo said they were able to unearth pots, utensils, jewelries and some bladed weapons.

Historical writings have indicated that prior to the arrival of Magellan, the island of Cebu and the rest of the Philippine islands already have its own system, economically and politically. Included in this historical footnote is the fact that Cebu was rich in gold.

But other than this part of his past, Esmeraldo said his being a native of Mactan is the only thing that connects him to Lapulapu. His interest to create a craft to contribute to the hotel’s vision of reliving the past is what is vital to him now.

Palm Grass, The Cebu Heritage Hotel serves as a backdrop to this unique endeavor. The hotel is actually going to break the norms in the hospitality business when it comes to interior design as it recycles slabs or ‘junk’ wood into new pieces of furniture.

Palm Grass is located at 68 General Junquera Street, a few hundred meters to Asia’s oldest street in Colon.