Leaf mosaic on an ostrich egg: Bringing bits of PHL to Pope Francis through art

Pope Francis's visit will center around Manila and Tacloban, just two spots in an archipelago comprised of 7,107 islands. Not nearly enough time to show him around our best tourists spots.

But doesn't mean Filipinos cannot still offer him the best they have to give, with a dash of what he will miss on top.

Proving that art is in how you look and not where, Pando Manipon is presenting to the pope an ostrich egg with the likeness of St. Peter's Basilica done in a mosaic of dried leaves. It took him two months to complete the work.

Manipon said in a Balitanghali video Thursday that he was inspired by the trees that fell during Typhoons Ondoy and Yolanda. The dried leaves, given life again in his murals, are symbols of the Filipino capacity to rise again from the ruins.




“Kung siya [Pope Francis] dumating dito and has given a part of him [self] here, I might as well give a little bit of the Philippines to him going [back] to the Vatican,” Manipon explained.

Meanwhile, in the town of Guagua in Pampanga, also known as the Woodcarving Capital of the Philippines, artisans are working overtime to complete the altar table that the pope will use in celebrating Mass in Tacloban.

And in Laguna, veteran woodcarver Levi Basag is putting the finishing touches on the altar table to be used in the Luneta Mass. Basag believes that the table will be his most important work to date.

It is to be laden with marble from Romblon and the tablecloth covering will be made from piña fiber from Laguna and t'nalak fabric from Mindanao. The chair the pope will sit in will be decorated with carvings of anahaw, the Philippine's national leaf.

Fr. Alex Bautista, who designed the chair and table, said, “If we cannot bring the pope around the Philippines, then we will bring elements of the Philippines close to the pope.” — Vida Cruz/BM, GMA News