Marble, Romblon’s chief export and sole driver, is not an easy stone. The quarries sit atop tall mountains with steep, narrow roads; cutting and polishing the stone uses tools that could kill or maim in a variety of ways; even carvers and sculptors inhale dangerous amounts of fine marble powder every day.
It’s hard work, but it’s all most know in Romblon. Laborers often start before they’re ten years old and work until their dying day, many of them children of marbleworkers themselves.
Hard work builds strong and hardy people. I hope to capture some of that strength and hardiness over my next few visits.
