Tesoro’s Philippine Handicrafts - Makati City, Philippines

THE STORY of Tesoro’s is entwined with that of its founder, Salud Santos Tesoro. Born in 1915 in Baliuag, Bulacan. Salud lost her mother at the age of 6 and was raised by her maternal grandmother, Gregoria , and her uncle, Manuel Pineda, a successful agent for American exporters based in Manila . Her uncle owned “Pineda’s Hat Shop” on Calle Real in Intramuros, the old walled city in Manila, a popular shopping area during the American period. In the Depression years of the 1930’s, Salud’s uncle prevailed on her, as the eldest of three sisters, to forego her schooling and manage the hat shop for the family’s sake.