She
does not only make smiling masks but she also makes people smile.
For
Julie Balinas, the MassKara Festival is more than just an annual merrymaking of
flamboyant banderitas and street dancing. The festival has been a huge part of
her life as it does not only bring smiles but also livelihood.
Julie
has been manufacturing wedding giveaways made of ceramics at the age of 16. She
started molding ceramics right after high school since she has never set foot
on college due to her family’s impoverished situation. To her demise, the
ceramic industry was catapult down the drain during the regime of former
president Fidel V. Ramos as the economy concentrated on agricultural
developments and not on the arts.
One
of her closest friends recommended her to the Provincial Tourism Office. Her
first commission was to make MassKara necklaces as tokens for the Prosecutors’
Convention held here in Bacolod in 2001. The tourism office really loved her
work so she was given another project the week after which was for the Doctors’
Convention. It started with those two conventions and the giving of smiles has
continued since then.
This
year marks Julie’s 10th year of making masks and giving smiles. Since
this is her only source of income to sustain her family’s needs, the production
of the masks is done year-round. Her husband is also working in a public
college as the one in charge of posting the school’s streamers but his meager
income cannot suffice the needs of their children.
“I
do not earn much in this livelihood but I can affirm that what I earn is just
enough to pay the bills and the school fees of my children,” Julie said.
Since
Julie only finished high school, her ultimate dream is for all her five
children to finish college and secure a degree from a reputable school. In that
way, they will be alleviated from poverty. Julie said that making masks has
been very helpful to their lives. In fact, two of her children already
graduated from college just because of the mask making. One is already a
teacher in a public college and the other one is already working full time in a
Computer Company here in the city. “I am proud to say that one of my daughters
will already be graduating on March with a degree of Business Administration,”
She said. It is my pride and honor that I’m able to raise my children with a
decent livelihood.
“Mask
making is a tedious process,” Julie said. The masks are first molded and then
baked. After which, they are painted with various colors and the final touch,
is putting a smile to the masks.
“I
couldn’t do everything alone,” Julie said, adding that, “I thank my children
for being so supportive of our livelihood. They go home straight from school
and help me. They are actually the ones who are designing the masks and
painting them. This way, they wouldn’t have time to engage in harmful things
like drugs.”
Whenever
the MassKara Festival draws near and the demands are high, Julie asks the help
of some of her neighbors and she also gives them commission. “This way, I’m
able to spare them from just doing their routine of playing cards in the
sidewalks and let them do something worthwhile while they also earn.”
Now
that she’s already 54, Julie has expanded her market saying, “Hotel managers
and even foreigners visit me in this little shack,” looking up to the ceiling
of her wrecked bahay kubo. “And besides, my English is not that good,” She
jested.
Some
street vendors also get supplies from Julie during the peak of the MassKara festival.
“I can’t even count the number of masks I’m able to make in a year,” she
quipped.
“I
would like the rest of the world to witness the MassKara Festival,” Julie said,
adding that, “I am not saying this just because I am a Bacolodnon but because there
is no other festival in the world which is as merry and there are no other
people who are as happy as the Bacolodnons. We always carry a smiling face no
matter how many problems we have and it has become a legacy for us to just
shrug off at any problem in a good way.”
Bacolod
City has been ranked by Money Sense as the best city to live in among 64 other
cities in the country and Julie’s glitzy masks are only one of the reasons why
we should visit Bacolod during MassKara. The city offers a wide array of
sceneries and activities like the Street Dancing, the Electric MassKara Parade,
the kiosks along the public plaza and Lacson Street, and of course, no visitor
has ever gone home from a visit in Bacolod without having a stick of the
delectable chicken inasal.
“I am happy to see smiling faces when people
buy my masks. This gives me a sense of fulfillment and makes me feel that
perhaps, my purpose in this world is to paint smiles not only to the masks I
make but also to the people who buy them,” Julie said, adding, “All I am and
all I ought to be, I ought it to the smiles.” #
