GAMABA AWARDEES

 The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, or the National Living Treasures Award, is conferred on Filipinos who are at the forefront of the
practice, preservation, and promotion of the nation’s traditional folk arts.
 Formalized in 1992, through Republic Act No. 7355, the Manlilikha ng Bayan Act.
 The National Commission for the Culture and the Arts oversees its implementation.
 The main objective of the award is to honor and support traditional folk artists and to see to it that that their skills and crafts are
preserved.
 The award is tied with a program that ensures the transfer of their skills to new generations and the promotion of the craft both
locally and internationally.
 In 2014, the Senate of the Philippines adopted Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 7 6 5 aimed at recognizing the accomplishments of the
country’s living treasures.
 EMBLEM - The award logo is a representation of the human form used in traditional cloth. Below the logo is the phrase “Manlilikha
ng Bayan” written in Baybayin,an ancient Filipino script used in the Philippines in the 16th century.

Criteria

 Should be a Filipino citizen or group of citizens belonging to an indigenous / traditional cultural community anywhere in the
Philippines, engaged in Filipino traditional art in the following categories: folk architecture, maritime transport, weaving, carving,
performing arts, literature, graphic and plastic arts, ornament, textile or fiber art, pottery and other artistic expressions of traditional
culture.
 Should have been engaged in the tradition and craft for a significant period of time with at least 50 years of existence and
documentation.
 Should have produced and performed of artistic, distinctive, and superior quality.
 Should possess mastery of the tools and materials that are needed for the art and must have a reputation for being an art master
and craft maker in the community where he / she belong.
 Should have passed on and/ or will pass on the traditional crafts and skills to other members of the community by virtue of teaching.
 In case when a Manlilikha ng Bayan candidate is incapable of teaching further his/ her craft and skill due to age or infirmity
o He / she should have created a significant body of work and has contributed to the development of the tradition and
craft.
o He / she should have played a role in the preservation and revitalization of the artistic tradition in the community.
o He/ she has been recognized as a master of his / her craft and admired for his character and integrity in his / her
community.

Ambahan

 It is a poetic literary form composed of seven-syllable lines used to convey messages through metaphors and images.
 The ambahan is sung and its messages range from courtship, giving advice to the young, asking for a place to stay, saying goodbye to
a dear friend and so on.
 Such an oral tradition is common place among indigenous cultural groups but the ambahan has remained in existence today chiefly
because it is etched on bamboo tubes using ancient Southeast Asian, pre-colonial script called surat Mangyan.

FEDERICO CABALLERO

 Preserved his community’s oral tradition by tediously documenting epics of his ancestors that are in near danger of disappearance.
 He is considered as a bantugan. He strives to dispense justice in the community through his work as a manughusay – an arbiter of
conflicts.

Alonzo Saclag

 Did not received any formal education in performing arts but still he mastered the choreography and musical instruments of Kalinga
just by observation and practice.
 A master of dance and performing arts. He has also mastered the dance patterns and movements associated with his people’s ritual.
He is the founder of the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe to ensure that the music and dance of his ancestor are passed to the younger
generations.

Masino intaray

 A musician and a poet whose expertise were the basal, kulilal, and bagit.
 Basal – is a kind of musical ensemble played during the tambilaw (Offering to the Lord of Rice); a rice wine dringking ceremony.
 Kulilal – a lyric poem about love being sung to the accompaniment of kusyapi, two-stringed lute, and pagang, bamboo zither.
  Bagit – an instrumental music reflecting the sound and movement of nature.
 He was a skilled and proficient player of the basal (gong), aroding (mouth harp), and babarak (ring flute). He was also well-versed in
kulilal (songs) and bagit (vocal music).

Samaon Sulaiman

 A master in playing the Kutyapi, a two-stringed plucked lute.

Uwang ahadas

 An expertise in playing the indigenous instrument called kwintangan kayu kwintangan, gabbang, agung.
 Kwintangan Kayu – an instrument composed of five wooden logs of different sizes, arranged from shortest to longest, and hung
horizontally. The music coming from it is believed to cause bountiful harvest.

Eduardo MUTUC

 Created numerous wood carving and metal art with religious and secular themes. He did intricate decorations for churches.
 He has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver, bronze and wood.

Teofilo Garcia

 Tabungaw Hat.
 Tabungaw – a functional headpiece made up of native gourd called upo, rattan, and bamboo.
 Hat weaver from San Quintin, Abra. He is known for tabungaw, which can last up to three to four generations if taken care of
properly.

Darhata sawabi

 A Pis Yabit weaver.

 Pis Yabit – a square multi-colored traditional cloth that serves as the head cover of the Tausug of Jolo.
 Headdress of the Tausug men that symbolizes the wearer’s rank in the society. In the contemporary period, even women wear the
cloth as accessories in traditional functions.
 Pis means head cloth while siyabit means to hook “a direct reference to the production process of inserting or hooking in
disconnected wefts of various colors.

Haja amina appi

 Mat Weaving
 Recognized as the master mat weaver
 Their mat is made up of Pandan leaves which undergo tedious processes from stripping, to sun drying, to dyeing, up to weaving.
 Her colorful mats with their complex geometric patterns exhibit her precise sense of design, proportion and symmetry and sensitivity
to color.
 Her unique multi-colored mats are protected by a plain white outer mat that serves as the mat’s backing.

Lang dulay

 T’nalak Cloth.
 T’nalak is a kind of fabric made up of fine abaca fibres weaved with different designs which reflect the tradition of the T’boli.
 She is considered as a traditional weaver of "t'nalak" or "tinalak" cloth.
 Her art is considered excellent because of the “fine even quality of the yarn, the close interweaving of the warp and weft, the
traditional forms and patterns, the chromatic integrity of the dye, and the consistency of the finish”
 She first learnt weaving at the age of 12 from her mother.
 bulinglangit (clouds), the bankiring (hair bangs), and the kabangi (butterfly), crocodiles and flowers.

Magdalena gamayo

 Her expertise dwell in weaving high-quality Ilocos’ textile called Abel.

 Abel – a kind of blanket made up of cotton weaved in different patterns.
 The weave produces a unique pattern that resembles a string of flowers thus its name, inubon a sabong.
 A master weaver who makes “inabel”, an Ilokano handwoven cloth.
 Traditional Patterns: Binakol and Inuritan (geometric design) Kusikos (spiral forms similar to orange) Sinan-sabong (Flowers)
  Magdalena has taught herself the traditional patterns of binakol, inuritan(geometric design), kusikos (spiral forms similar to oranges),
and sinan-sabong(flowers), which is the most challenging pattern.
 She taught herself traditional patterns, such as kusikus (whirlwind), marurup (Milky Way), and sinan paddak ti pusa (cat’s pawprint),
building on the more common inuritan (geometric design) and sinan-sabong (flowers)

Salinta Monon

 She was awarded for fully demonstrating the creative and expressive aspects of the Bagobo abaca ikat weaving called inabal at a
time when such art is threatened with extinction. She weaves a design for three to four months.
 Start weaving at the age of 12 through the Guidance of her mother.
 She used to wear the traditional hand Woven tube skirt of the Bagobo. (sinukla and bandura)
 Her favorite design is the binuwaya or crocodile which is said to be among the most difficult to weave.
 She used to wear the traditional hand-woven tube skirt of the Bagobo, of which the sinukla and the bandira were two of the most
common types until the market began to be flooded with cheap machine-made fabrics. Now, she wears her traditional clothes only
on speacial occasions.

Ambalang Ausalin

 She was recognized for her commitment to safeguarding and promoting the Yakan ‘tennun’ or tapestry-weaving tradition.
 Tennun means woven cloth and used in making Yakan dress.
 She is also known for her ‘suwah bekkat’ (cross-stitch-like embellishment) and ‘suwah pendan’ (embroidery-like embellishment) of
the bunga sama category.
 Yakan cloth, including the "sinalu’an" and "seputangan " or female headdress, two of the most intricate styles in the Yakan weaving
virtuosity.
 Uses the back strap tension loom with her works.