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The buntal hat is a traditional lightweight straw hat from the Philippines made from very finely-woven fibers extracted from the petioles of Corypha leaves. It is traditionally worn by farmers working in the fields and was a major export of the Philippines in the first half of the 20th century. It can also be paired with semi-formal barong tagalog as well as informal attire. Its main centers of production are Baliwag, Bulacan, and (historically) Sariaya and Tayabas in Quezon Province. Buntal hats produced in Baliwag are also sometimes known as balibuntal hats (a portmanteau of "Baliwag" and "buntal"), and are regarded as superior in quality to other types of buntal hats.
Buntal hats were traditionally woven into wide-brimmed farmer's hats for the domestic market. Later versions of the hat using softened fibers and a finer weave are woven into a form resembling the fedora, and it is often mistaken for and sold as the very similar Panama hat or under the name Bangkok hat. These versions are characterized by being durable, yet light, and with a silkier texture than Panama hats. It can also be woven into other forms, including as women's braided wide-brimmed known as the baliwag hat (also named after the town of Baliwag). Buntal hats are also sometimes known as the parabuntal hat (cf. Straw hat), East Indian Panama hat, or Italian straw hat.
By 1920s, the hats were being exported by the Philippines, often passed off as the very similar Panama hat or under the name "Bangkok hat". However, in 1923, Chinese producers from Hong Kong hired hat weavers from the Philippines. Having acquired the weaving process, they then began to mass-produce balibuntal hats using buntal fibers imported from the Philippines. This affected the local industry to such an extent that Representative Antonio Villarama tried to pass a bill to ban the export of buntal fiber (though it failed).
Because of competition from Chinese factories, the buntal hat industry waned until the 1960s when it was again revived by the Villones family from Sariaya, Quezon. Their hats were mostly sourced from suppliers from Baliuag, although they also bought hats from nearby towns in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Nueva Ecija. Their hats were primarily exported to the United States, Mexico, and Italy. The family accounted for around a quarter of the total monthly production of buntal hats in the 1960s.
The industry, however, is once again in danger of extinction due to the growing lack of skilled workers and the declining demand. Most remaining weavers of buntal are elderly. The government of Baliuag has been taking measures to promote buntal hats to the local market.
In 2011, Rosario Quizon-Bautista, one of the last remaining weavers in Baliuag, also started a project to teach buntal weaving skills to inmates in the Bulacan Provincial Jail, due to the lack of interest among youths in Bulacan. She sells raw buntal fiber to the inmates, and buy back finished hats. This provides them with income while also preserving buntal weaving traditions.
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