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Every destination has its own specific souvenir. For example, in Cagayan De Oro, they have the pastel; in Lucban, Quezon they have the Lucban Longganisa; in Tagaytay, they have buko pie; and in Bulacan they have pastillas.

In the town of Sibalom, Antique though, they are proud to have what they call the Gem Tree. As the so-called Gem Stone Capital of the Philippines, it is befitting that their souvenir matches its title. In the province, they also house the famous Mao-it River or Rainbow River, which is a river full of gemstones.

In a new episode of iJuander, hosts and veteran journalists Susan Enriquez and Mark Salazar met with Reynaldo “Dodoy” Rubino, a long-time gem tree artist in the area.

Dodoy has been crafting these gem trees for more than two decades. He said, “Pag kami po ay naghanap ng mga gemstone sa ilog, kilala na rin po namin dahil sa tagal na naming naghanap ng makukulay na bato saka yung mga ibang variety na may kulay na bato.”

He gets all of the gemstones at the foot of the Mao-it River and makes beautiful zen gem trees from it. Dodoy's creations range from 50 Php to 3,000 Php

Check out the full video below.

For more inspiring stories like this, watch iJuander every Sunday at 7:45 p.m. on GTV

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