Pabalat

Pabalat is a form of papercutting originating in the province of Bulacan in the Philippines. It involves making intricate papercut designs from wrappers used in pastillas, usually papel de hapon or japanese paper. Among the well-known practitioners of the craft are Luz and Naty Ocampo.

The origin of the art form is vague but according to Luz Ocampo, the art form may have been derived from Chinese papercutting. The form may also have been an offshoot of papel picado from Mexico. There are variations in pabalat making in Bulacan. In San Miguel, a stencil is used in tracing a pattern on the paper for pabalat-making, in Malolos stencil is not used.