For hotel general manager Nat Lim, proudly Ilonggo-made fabrics and weaves are everyday uniform for work and play, casual, formal, or professional, in style

Before Buwan ng Wika draws to a close, not that our celebration of our Philippine languages, all 130 or so of them, should ever end, let’s also speak the language of our native, indigenous fabrics and weaving traditions—or listen! Our clothing, next to our skin, speaks volumes about who we are and what our immediate surroundings are like, and how we turn certain resources into something as expressive as personal style.

Meet Nat Lim, general manager at Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, who’s had immense experience in the hotel industry for over 25 years, having worked at hotels like New World Makati, the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington DC, the Renaissance Makati Hotel, the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur, the Waiohai Beach Club and the Maui Ocean Club, both run by the Marriott Group in Hawaii, the Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur, and Nobu and Crown Towers at City of Dreams. She has been with the Richmonde Hotel Iloilo since pre-opening in 2015 and, although she isn’t Ilonggo, to many, including many of their frequent guests in Iloilo and other parts of Western Visayas, she has by now become the face of home away from home and hospitality in Iloilo City.

Since last year, while we were all in the throes of the raging pandemic, Nat has had this idea of going full-on local, wearing proudly Iloilo-made ensembles every day, casual or formal or professional, from top to bottom, accessories included, not only to showcase the best of Iloilo, but also to keep going, to keep raising the flag of Philippine travel, tourism, hospitality, which have been hit hard by the series of lockdowns imposed on every city across the country to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Pandemic aside, life goes on for Nat—in Ilonggo style. It started with her sense of solidarity with her adoptive city, a desire to help people whose livelihoods, just like hers, had received a major blow from the global health crisis. She opened up the Bizbar at the Richmonde Hotel Iloilo for a weekend fair, involving as many micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as she could gather with the help of One Iloilo’s Girlie Flores and Obra Ilonggo’s Karmela Jesena, with whom she partnered.

What they started as a one-weekend-only affair is now Bugál Iloilo (Proud Iloilo or Iloilo Pride), which has had more than a couple of weekend editions since after the first enhanced community quarantine last year. “Although people are still wary of going out to shop, if they are presented with an opportunity to buy specially curated, unique, locally-made products at a venue that is guaranteed to be safe and sanitary, they will come,” says Nat, explaining the success of the exhibit sale and the idea that propelled it. “We know there is a viable market for proudly Ilonggo-made quality items and there are many talented local craftsmen and designers who can supply the demands of this discerning group of shoppers and collectors.”

Since last year, while we were all in the throes of the raging pandemic, Nat has had this idea of going full-on local, wearing proudly Iloilo-made ensembles, from top to bottom, accessories included, every day.

With a careful selection of participants, such as Obra Ilongga, Balay Hablon/Atalier de Hablon, Jaki Penalosa, Jeff Ticao, Modern Ilongga. Rodson Woodworks, The Green Corner, Plantita Bell, The Bonsai & Suiseki Club of Panay, Fiesta Souvenir, Leo Cadete, Ibadiba, Jacob Bravo, and more, as well as with a discerningly curated selection of products that would range from crafts to fashion, from art pieces to accessories, from tableware to garden stuff, true enough, as Nat predicted, people flocked to Bugál Iloilo, including Iloilo Province Governor Art Defensor, Jr., Miss Iloilo World Ann Palmares, and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas and his wife Rosalie, not to mention frequent guests from Manila.

These Bugál Iloilo treasure finders snapped up the products, as did Nat, and so now the charismatic GM of Richmonde Manila and darling of Iloilo society has an entire wardrobe from which to pick what to wear each day at work and at play without repeating anything for weeks or even months.

At Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, with Nat Lim often found at the lobby to warmly welcome each guest, it is Buwan ng Wika every day, with hablon, abaca, and other indigenous weaves and style speaking volumes about the beauty and artistry not only of Iloilo but also of the entire country.