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When not acting, Leandro Baldemor carves religious images in Paete

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Leah C. Salterio

<div class="media-content"><div class="slider-for"><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro1.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro2.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro3.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro4.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro5.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro6.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro7.jpg"/></div><div><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/08/30/leandro8.jpg"/></div></div><div class="slider-desc"><div class="item-desc"><p>Leandro Baldemor</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Leandro Baldemor with his wood carving of Jesus Christ done during GCQ</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Mary Magdalene</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>San Roque</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>San Simon</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Divine Mercy</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>La Pieta lifesize</p></div><div class="item-desc"><p>Black Nazarene</p></div></div></div><p>MANILA -- Wood carving is an art that has been passed on from one generation to the next in the family of actor Leandro Baldemor. For 12 years now, Baldemor has been earning a living, aside from acting, through his Paete Handicrafts in Laguna.</p><p>His paternal grandfather, Venerando Baldemor, started doing wooden slippers or bakya and even exported them to Japan. </p><p>“Siya ang nag-umpisang mag-export sa Paete,” Baldemor proudly said of his grandfather in a phone interview with ABS-CBN News.</p><p>Meanwhile, his father, Wallie Baldemor, has a handicrafts business also in Laguna. Painter-sculptor Manuel Baldemor is his cousin. </p><p>When he’s not acting in front of the cameras, Baldemor is busy carving wood and making images in his gallery in Paete. “Simula bata ako, nakagisnan ko na ‘yan. Basta magaling kang karpintero, makakapag hanap-buhay ka,” he said.</p><p>He started with carving wooden furniture. “Martilyo at lagare lang ang kailangan mo,” Baldemor said. “Pero ang puhunan mo ‘yung skill mo. Amoy ng kahoy, alam ko na ‘yan. Kahit nakapikit, pwede akong gumawa ng furniture.”</p><p>However, wooden furniture-making eventually became a not-so-profitable business for Baldemor. “Marami kang competition. Tapos naging mahina na rin,” he noted.</p><p>Eventually, he shifted to doing religious images. Priests all over the Philippines, from as far as Visayas and Mindanao, became his clients and eventually his friends, who commission him to do images,</p><p>“Doon ako nag-focus sa images,” Baldemor said. “Made to order po kami. Kung ano gusto ng customer, ‘yun ang gagawin namin. Dasal ang naging susi ko sa hanapbuhay noong nag-umpisa ako 12 years ago. Pinanganak na akong negosyante.” </p><p>In his Obras de Paete gallery, Baldemor proudly displays some of his works. He has 20 workers who are busy in his workshop and working areas. He boasted that his gallery has since been part of the Department of Tourism’s destination in Laguna.</p><p>“Kasama kami sa market ng DOT,” Baldemor said. “Nakakatulong sa akin ‘yun kasi maraming visitors at students ang pumupunta sa amin. Malaking tulong din ang social media sa business ko. Mas gumaganda ngayon.”</p><p>Baldemor regularly accommodates students in his gallery, where he gives demonstrations to students on wood carving, paper mache and even painting.</p><p>Like most non-essential businesses, Baldemor’s Paete Handicrafts was closed during the lockdown, when they had no clients. Still, he opted to be productive. “Nag-treat ako ng kahoy,” he said. “To prepare for the next order.” </p><p>Today, while his showbiz assignments remain scarce, Baldemor is nonetheless busy doing wood carving. “Every day, ang mga workers may ginagawa,” he saId. “Paete has zero COVID cases, so when GCQ (general community quarantine) was declared, our mayor readily granted us a permit for the workers. Pero may curfew kami. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. lang trabaho.”<br/> <br/>Born in Manila and raised in Laguna, Baldemor was only 18 when he was discovered by Bobby Yalong, who eventually acted as his manager, at the Kamuning Health Center, where he was taking his internship for his nursing degree at De Ocampo Memorial College.</p><p>When showbiz beckoned, Baldemor did not pass up the opportunity. “Naka-duty ako noon ng ma-discover ako,” Baldemor recalled. “Natapos ko ang nursing in eight years. Muntik na akong maging doktor. [Laughs] Hindi ako tinigilan ng nanay ko para mag-enroll.”</p><p>It was Seiko Films producer Robbie Tan, who gave Baldemor a break on the big screen. He did a string of sexy films in the ST (sex trip) era. He boldly did beefcake poses in magazines and did not mind doing sexy roles in most of his films.</p><p>Now 45, Baldemor is best remembered as the sexy male star in the &#x27;90s. He made his big screen debut back in 1996 in Abbo De la Cruz’s “Sariwa,” which had Priscilla Almeda in the title role. That same year, Baldemor was paired opposite Rosanna Roces in De la Cruz’s “Patikim ng Pinya.”<br/>    <br/>One of Baldemor’s last few big screen appearances was in Maryo J. de los Reyes’ “Bamboo Flowers,” shown in 2013. Before the pandemic broke out, he was working with Alden Richards in the teleserye, “The Gift.”</p><p>The eldest in a brood of four children, Baldemor lives with his family. He has three children. The eldest is now 21 and is as old as his youngest sibling. His parents as well as his other siblings live in another house, also in Paete.</p><p>His advice to others who want to start any business: “Sa 12 years na paghahanap-buhay ko, wala akong nilokong tao. Minsan, may mga hindi maiiwasan at nagkaka-problema. ‘Yung iba hindi ko na lang pinagbabayad ng balance ‘pag nangyari ‘yun.</p><p>“Dapat hindi magalit sa ‘yo ang customers. Huwag manloloko ng tao sa larangan ng hanapbuhay. Doon ka magtatagal sa negosyo.”</p>

<p>For 12 years now, Leandro Baldemor has been earning a living, aside from acting, through his Paete Handicrafts in Laguna.</p>

For 12 years now, Leandro Baldemor has been earning a living, aside from acting, through his Paete Handicrafts in Laguna.