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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Giant House flag clean-up is all in a day's work for this cool laundry lady

Giant House flag clean-up is all in a day's work for this cool laundry lady

Published Jul 17, 2025 02:10 pm

At A Glance

  • Cleaning the giant Philippine flag that's hoisted above the rostrum in the House plenary hall looks like a herculean task, but not for Evangeline Alcantara Agustin.
Evangeline Alcantara Agustin (Contributed photo)
Evangeline Alcantara Agustin (Contributed photo)


Cleaning the giant Philippine flag that's hoisted above the rostrum in the House plenary hall looks like a herculean task, but not for Evangeline Alcantara Agustin.
Agustin has washing and drying process of plenary flag down pat, especially since she's been doing it for the past six years.
"May mga kasama po ako na kasama ko lang po sa pag-assist, pero ako po talaga lahat yung nagha-handle (I have some people who assist me but I essentially handle it myself)," she told House of Representatives reporters at the plenary hall on Thursday morning, July 17.
Before the chance interview, the laundry lady delivered the newly cleaned flag to the House for it to be reinstalled in time for President Marcos' fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 28.
The giant flag--the exact dimensions of which are not widely known--is easily the most striking sight within the House plenary.
So, does this put tremendous pressure on Agustin to not mess up her cleaning job?
"Hindi po kasi gamay ko napo yung mga tela na ingatan po (No because I'm already used to the different kinds of sensitive fabric)," she confidently said.
Agustin gave a breakdown of the cleaning process for the giant flag. First is the "spotting" or the search of small stains on the flag so that they can be individually cleaned. This precedes the "gentle cleaning" of the entire flag.
"Kasama po yung chemicals na hindi po basta-basta nasisira yung tela po natin (This includes the use of chemicals that aren't harsh to the fabric)," she said. Agustin says the process takes 20 minutes.
And then comes the drying part. She says this also needs to be done in a careful manner.
"Mayroon po kaming dryer. Pero ano po siya, naka-timpla din po yung init niya kasi hindi po siya basta-basta na dry lang po na pwedeng maluto yung tela niya (We have a dryer. But the temperature must be carefully controlled so as not to dry out the flag's fabric)."
Agustin says the entire washing and drying process takes three days.
The President delivers the SONA annually at the House plenary hall before a joint session of Congress.
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