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Known as the first variety that started to flourish in the Philippines in late 16^th century brought by the Spaniards specifically in the Visayas. Red Spanish pineapple or locally known as Piña is not only a source of fruit in the Visayan region but also propagated for its fiber production for woven textiles and artificial hair for holy images. Piña, a Spanish word for pineapple, was recorded to have successfully cultivated in the Philippines along with three other varieties throughout the century. But the western Visayan ancestors opted to propagate this specific variety as a source of fibers for garments due to its quality and sustainability. Queen of Philippine textiles as what everyone calls it when woven, but the crucial and intricate processes are what made it uniquely exquisite. This cultural knowledge was passed down to many generations to present and became an ethno-linguistic identity and cultural heritage especially in the province of Aklan where the Industry of Piña production is centered.

Soft and diaphanous like a spider web is best describes the Piña fiber, but it is also known for its tedious process from planting to extracting the fibers. Red Spanish pineapple requires a tropical climate like of the Philippines. Growing it will take approximately one year and a half to mature. It is planted on a separate land apart from other root crops to sustain the needs of the farmers while growing it. Harvesting is done only once to a pineapple plant when it started bearing its fruit, with only eight to twelve matured leaves taken off while leaving the plant and fruit grow its crown and suckers for future planting materials. The harvested leaves are bundled and delivered to scrapers of the community, normally to housewives with their children who are in charge of the household. With only primitive tools such as broken porcelain and coconut shell, an expert scraper can scrape roughly 400 leaves a day. “Bastos” or the coarse fibers found on the upper layer of pineapple leaves are extracted using broken porcelain, while “Liniwan”, the finest fibers are extracted using finely sharpened coconut shell. It takes highest technical skill and focus to extract the fibers due to its fineness and delicacy, thus only experts of the community are capable of perfectly doing the process. The raw fibers are brought to the river to wash off the remaining leaf residue using sea shell then dried under the sun. During market day piña scrapers and fiber knotters meet to trade their loose piña fibers using traditional weighing scale and old coins that have equivalent value in the local conversion.  Knotters buy these raw pineapple fibers to knot each filament from end-to-end following standards for knotting to guarantee its strength that will not affect the quality of weaving later on. 

These crucial processes of fibers are the main factors why handwoven piña textile is one of the most priced textiles and is used for luxury garments like of the Philippine national garments.