1913 P352,338
1914 324,912
1915 735,303
1916 2,328,024
1917 3,929,318
1918 4,319,501
1919 6,913,004
1920 15,623,567
1921 10,696,207
1922 6,514,597
Perfumes.--The Orient, since the most ancient times, has been famous
for perfumes, and in this regard the Philippines are not behind from
other oriental countries. Over two scores of aromatic oils from
plants have been studied by the Bureau of Science and found to be
available for perfumery and medicine; and, as exploration progresses,
undoubtedly others will become better known.
Ilang-ilang.--At least one Philippine essential oil, namely
ilang-ilang, has enjoyed a world-wide fame among perfumes for several
years. Although the oil is extracted also from the flowers of the
same tree in other oriental countries, the Philippine product always
has brought and still does bring the highest prices in the perfume
trade in Europe.
Patchouli oil.--Another oil that has been known in the Orient for
thousands of years and in Europe for centuries is patchouli oil. This,
while of no commercial importance in the Philippines at present,
has a peculiar interest to the botanist, for while the plant is
cultivated in many parts of the Orient in considerable quantities,
there is no record of its flowering except in the Philippines.
Rattan.--The thirty odd kinds of rattans, and the climbing members
of the palm family, furnish strips and reeds for the manufacture of
furniture. Considerable exports in rattan were made during the war;
and, should the rattan be prepared and graded in a manner similar
to what is being done in Singapore, this item of export alone would
not only be increased, but much higher prices would be received for
the product. Rattan strips are used in enormous quantities all over
the Islands as tying material for houses, bridges, wharfs, boats,
fish weirs, and so forth, besides being almost the only material
used for tying bales of Manila hemp, tobacco, sugar bags, and similar
commercial packages.
Shoes.--The shoe industry in the Philippines is in its infant
stage. The exportation during 1919 was only 2,368 pairs of leather
shoes and 674 pairs of canvas shoes, worth P20,695 and P2,351,
respectively. Shoes, however, that left the Islands through the
military, probably worth more than the amount given, are not
included. On the other hand over P5,000,000 worth of shoes of all
kinds were imported in 1919.
There are two factories in the City of Manila manufacturing shoes by
machinery. Filipino laborers are employed and have proved competent to
undertake all phases of the manufacture of shoes. These factories are
making shoes that compare very favorably with the better-grade shoes
made in the United States, using only the best imported leathers and
other necessary materials from the United States. The two factories
have a capacity of about one thousand pairs of shoes per day.
Besides the two factories mentioned, there is also a considerable
quantity of shoes manufactured in small shops throughout the City of
Manila and the provinces that make their shoes entirely by hand and
use a great deal of material produced in the Philippines, especially
sole leather and portions of the upper leathers. These small shops
turn out products of good quality and make most of their shoes on
individual orders.
Hats.--The making of Philippine hats is almost a household
industry. Hats manufactured here are as durable and as beautiful as
those produced in Panama. Philippine buntal, buri, hemp, and bamboo
hats make attractive and comfortable wear. The towns of Baliuag,
Bulacan, and Lucban, Tayabas, have become famous for the excellent
hats they produce.
The hat industry in the Philippines, although exploited only to a
small extent, made it possible for the Islands to record exportation
on this product in 1919 amounting to 1,470,026 pesos as compared with
only 753,942 pesos worth of hats imported for the same year.
Of the 1,470,026 pesos' worth of hats sent out of the Islands in
1919, 1,280,968 pesos' worth went to the United States. With the
increasing popularity which Philippine hats enjoy in the American
market, hat exportation to the United States is expected to reach
greater proportions. China, with its hundreds of millions of souls,
many of whom have already begun to wear hats, is also a big potential
market for this Philippine product.
There is one large hat factory in the Philippines which manufactures
straw hats, wool hats, and also umbrellas. Its actual annual production
reaches half a million straw hats and half a million woolen hats.
Matches.--There is one match factory in the Philippines which
supplies a portion of the local need, averaging 70,000 to 80,000
tins annually. One tin contains 1,440 small boxes. This factory has
been in operation since eighteen years ago. The Philippines imported
last year matches worth 949,205 pesos, while its exports of the same
product were only 33,207 pesos.
Pearls.--Pearls abound in Philippine waters, especially in the
neighborhood of Mindanao and Sulu. The Japanese go as far as Sulu to
fish for pearls. Merchants from Paris and London come to the Islands
to get their supply of pearls.
Until 1910 the pearl industry of the Philippines was totally in
the hands of Moros and Chinese in Mindanao, who sent their pearls
directly to Singapore for sale. After that year jewelry houses in
England and France sent their representatives here to purchase pearls,
and since then large quantities have been shipped directly to those
countries. At present not even one per cent of the pearls fished in
Philippine waters remains in the Islands. The rest are shipped out of
the country to be manufactured into beautiful jewels, which are sent
back to the Islands to be sold at high prices. In 1919 the Islands
exported raw pearls valued at 152,543 pesos, while the manufacture
pearls that were imported were worth 155,150 pesos.
Buttons.--The raw materials used for the manufacture of shell buttons
are trocha, pearl shell, green snail, and the chambered-nautilus. The
Islands have an abundant supply of these shells. They are found in the
waters of Jolo and also in the vicinity of Sitanki, and the regions
farther north, such as the Tañon Strait and along the coasts of most
of the Visayan Islands; some are found along the coasts of Pangasinan
and Ambos Camarines.
In 1918 the United States alone imported 2,500,000 pesos' worth of
buttons; the Philippine exports of this product showed only 251,144
gross in quantity, valued at 231,811 pesos; while the Islands imported
buttons worth 119,787 pesos. Japan is supplying one-half of the button
importation of America. In 1922, imports were valued at P216,086.
There are two button factories in the Philippines. These two companies
use only a very small portion of the suitable material that could be
obtained. The annual supply of shells which the Philippines produces
is 1,000,000 kilograms. The two local factories use less than 300,000
kilograms a year. This limited local demand for shell and the better
prices offered abroad result in the Philippine supply of shells being
exported to other lands.
It is estimated that a small button factory, destined only for the
local trade and capable of producing fifty gross of buttons daily,
would require an investment of about 20,000 pesos, exclusive of the
cost of buildings.