Pottery in San Juan Batangas – Palayok, Banga, Heritage

Batangas has long been a province of clay and fire. Archaeological work in Calatagan uncovered the famous Calatagan Pot — a locally made earthenware vessel with pre‑colonial inscriptions — found in the same burial layers as imported Chinese and Thai ceramics¹.

This shows that Batangueños were shaping their own pottery even as foreign trade wares circulated. In the Spanish era, imported porcelain became prestige items, but local earthenware remained essential in rural households. Against this backdrop, San Juan’s pottery industry is a more recent tradition, taking root in the 1950s and flourishing in the barangays of Palahanan, Libato, and Muzon².

Compared to older centers like Pallocan in Batangas City, which was noted for pottery as early as the 20^th century but criticized for crude workmanship³, San Juan’s pottery developed as a livelihood craft. Families in Palahanan worked together — one kneading clay, another shaping, a third tending the fire — in a communal rhythm that turned clay into commerce.

AI-generated image of a man molding a clay pot.

The barrios of Libato and Muzon followed, forming a triad of earthenware expertise that still defines San Juan’s cultural identity⁴.

The products themselves are practical and distinct. The palayok is a round‑bodied clay pot used for cooking stews and soups, prized for the earthy flavor it imparts.

The banga is a large water jar, once essential for storing and cooling drinking water. The kalan is a clay stove designed to hold charcoal for cooking.

In recent decades, artisans have also produced plant pots, vases, souvenir miniatures, and prosperity pots for the New Year, adapting to modern tastes while keeping traditional methods of hand‑molding, sun‑drying, and open‑kiln firing⁵.

Economically, pottery has been one of San Juan’s major livelihoods, especially in Palahanan, Libato, and Muzon. A 2021 study noted that it remains a primary source of income for many families, though challenged by rising costs, seasonal demand, and competition from plastic and metal containers⁶.

Despite these pressures, pottery continues to contribute to the town’s identity and economy, particularly through tourism and cultural branding.

This link between economy and culture is most visible in the Lambayok Festival, held every December 12 to mark San Juan’s founding anniversary. Organized by the Municipal Government and the local tourism office, the festival celebrates the town’s three pillars: lambanog (coconut wine), palayok (clay pot), and karagatan (the sea).

Events include pottery‑making contests, lambanog expos, cookfests, and a street dance showdown where performers carry props shaped like jars and stoves⁷. In this way, pottery is not just remembered — it is performed, celebrated, and reimagined for a new generation.

In Palahanan, the kilns still burn. Not as many, not as loud. But they burn. And every pot that emerges carries the weight of a town’s history — shaped by fire, held by memory.