I.

GAMABA Artist
II. Priming Activity
Directions: Arrange the letters to form the correct word.
1. T R I S T A
2. S I U C A N I M
3. W O K R R T A
4. M U R N T E N I T S
5. G N I S E D S
6. D A R A W S
7. A T S M R E E I C P E
8. D I T N O I S A T R
9. V E A W E R
10. G I L E R U I O S

III. Engagement
In 1992, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) began selecting and honoring
recipients of the National Living Treasures Award, also known as Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan
(GAMABA), through Republic Act No. 7355. It continues to be awarded today, and is handed out in the
form of a medal. The lives and work of these Filipinos exhibit a dedication to craftsmanship and
excellence that are unparalleled. Through their passion, abilities, and tenacity in passing down their
heritage to the youth, many cultural practices of indigenous communities were preserved.
The National Museum, in partnership with the NCCA and the office of Sen. Loren Legarda, launched
an exhibit featuring the National Living Treasures in 2016. Now a permanent hall in the National
Museum of Anthropology, the exhibit is a tribute not only to these one-of-a-kind creators, but also to their
styles, tools, and crafts. It also highlights their efforts to keep the country’s unique and diverse intangible
cultural heritage alive, through continued practice and education.
To be deemed a National Living Treasure, one must possess technical and creative skills, creating
work with fine artistic quality, and ties to community and folk art traditions. More than that, they must
show a strong character and unfaltering integrity, leading them to earn the respect and admiration of their
people.
LIST OF GAMABA ARTIST WITH ART
1. Ginaw Bilog
Ginaw Bilog was a Filipino poet who was recognized as a National Living Treasure by the Philippine
government. Born on January 3, 1953, Bilog was a Hanunuo Mangyan who was a native of Mansalay,
Oriental Mindoro. He was known for his efforts in preserving the Mangyan poetry tradition of ambahan.
A common cultural aspect among cultural communities nationwide is the oral tradition characterized by
poetic verses which are either sung or chanted. However, what distinguishes the rich Mangyan literary
tradition from others is the ambahan, 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 commonplace 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.
Ginaw Bilog, Hanunoo Mangyan from Mansalay, Mindoro, grew up in such a cultural environment.
Already steeped in the wisdom that the ambahan is a key to the understanding of the Mangyan soul,
Ginaw took it upon himself to continually keep scores of ambahan poetry recorded, not only on bamboo
tubes but on old, dog-eared notebooks passed on to him by friends.
Most treasured of his collection are those inherited from his father and grandfather, sources of inspiration
and guidance for his creative endeavors. To this day, Ginaw shares old and new ambahans with his fellow
Mangyans and promotes this poetic form in every occasion.
Through the dedication of individuals like Ginaw, the ambahan poetry and other traditional art forms
from our indigenous peoples will continue to live.
The Filipinos are grateful to the Hanunoo Mangyan for having preserved a distinctive heritage form our
ancient civilization that colonial rule had nearly succeeded in destroying. The nation is justifiably proud
of Ginaw Bilog for vigorously promoting the elegantly poetic art of the surat Mangyan and the ambahan.
Hanunuo Mangyan of Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, 1953
  Ginaw Bilog was awarded for faithfully preserving the Hanunuo Mangyan script and ambahan
poetry and promoting it on every occasion so that the art will not be lost but preserved for
posterity.
National Folk Artists Award, 1988
 Organized by the Rotary Club of Makati-Ayala. As a group, these folk and traditional artists
reflect the diverse heritage and cultural traditions that transcend their beginnings to become part
of our national character.
Gawad manlilikha ng bayan or National Living Treasure Award, 1993
 President Fidel V. Ramos, conferred the National Living Treasure Award to Ginaw Bilog on
December 17, 1993 in recognition of his people's preservation efforts of the ambahan poetry
which is recorded on bamboo.
Order of Lakandula
 It is awarded for political and civic merit and in memory of King Lakandula’s dedication to the
responsibilities of leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one’s
people.

2. Masino Intaray

Masino Intaray was a Filipino poet, bard artist, and musician who is a Palawan native known for his
performance of the local traditions of basal, kulilal and bagit. He is also a recipient of the National Living
Treasure recognition. He is known for playing multiple indigenous instruments namely the basal (gong),
aroding (mouth harp), and the babarak (ring flute). Intaray is also known for his performance of kulilal or
songs and bagit, a form of vocal music.
A member of the Pala’wan tribe, musician and epic chanter Masino Intaray was a master of the basal, a
gong music ensemble played during rice cooking (tambilaw) and sharing (tinapay) rituals, which gather
the community as they serve offerings to Pala’wan rice god Ampo’t Paray.
Intaray also performed the kulilal, a lyrical poem expressing love, accompanied by two-stringed lute and
bamboo zither, and the bagit, an instrumental piece about nature. His memory and determination guided
him in chanting through many successive nights, reciting epics, stories, myths of origin, and the teachings
of ancestors. Intaray, who was awarded in 1993, passed away in 2013.
3. Samaon Sulaiman

Samaon Sulaiman was a Filipino musician who is a recipient of the National Living Treasure award. The
Maguindanaon is known for his mastery of the indigenous kutyapi instrument. Born on March 3, 1953,
Sulaiman first leaned playing kutyapi at around 13 years old from his uncle.
Musician Samaon Sulaiman was a master of the kutyapi, a two-stringed lute that requires highly technical
skill to play. The Maganoy, Maguindanao native learned from his uncle, Pinagunay, at age 13, developing
and learning different forms and styles of playing the instrument. The sound is melodic and rhythmic, its
effect meditative and captivating. He was also proficient in playing instruments such as the kulintang,
agong (a suspended gong with a wide rim), gandingan (a gong with a narrow rim), and tambul.
Sulaiman’s fascination for his craft led him to become an influential teacher. He was awarded in 1993,
and passed away in 2011.
4. Lang Dulay
Lang Dulay \was a Filipino traditional weaver who was a recipient of the National Living Treasures
Award. She is credited with preserving her people's tradition of weaving T'nalak, a dyed fabric made from
refined abaca fibre.
She is known for maintaining the use of traditional motifs in T'nalak weaving amidst commercialization
of the craft which saw the introduction of more modern designs by non-T'bolis. She notably had a mental
repertoire of around 100 patterns and designs some of these were based on her dreams, hence her
description as a "dreamweaver".
In Lang Dulay’s family, the weaving of the t’nalak (a fine abaca cloth) took place before or after farm
work, when the weather was cool and the conditions were better for the product. Dulay, who grew up in
Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, was taught to weave by her mother when she was 12.
As demand grew for new designs, she persisted and kept working with traditional patterns, even though
they were harder to complete — she knew around a hundred, including bulinglangit (clouds), kabangi
(butterfly), crocodiles, and flowers. She valued purity, so much so that she never washed her t’nalak with
soap. She was awarded in 1998, and passed away in 2015
5. Salinta Monon
Salinta Monon was a Filipino textile weaver who was the one of two recipients of the National Living
Treasures Award in 1998. She was known for her Bagobo-Tagabawa textiles and was known as the "last
Bagobo weaver".
Salinta Monon was 12 when she began learning to weave the inabal, a traditional Bagobo textile. In her
home in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, Monon would isolate herself from family to be able to concentrate on
creating her cloths and skirts, which took three to four months and a month to finish, respectively.
Her favorite pattern, despite or because of its difficulty, was the binuwaya (crocodile), and she continued
weaving until her death in 2009. For her, not only was it a source of income, it was a source of pride as
well. She and her younger sister were the only Bagobo weavers left in their community, and she dreamt
of having a structure built for teaching new would-be weavers. She was awarded in 1998.
6. Alonzo Saclag
Alonzo Saclag is a Filipino musician and dancer who is a recipient of the National Living Treasures
Award. He is instrumental in establishing the practice of children of wearing traditional Kalinga clothing
for important school events as well as the teaching of Kalinga folk songs in schools. He also lobbied for
the broadcast of traditional Kalinga music along with contemporary music in their local radio station.
It was through observation, time, and experience — rather than education or training or any kind — that
Alonzo Saclag of Lubuagan, Kalinga mastered local musical instruments, along with dance patterns
associated with rituals. Some of these are rarely performed, but done so with special purposes, whether
it’s preparing for retaliation, a victorious vindication for the community, or forging successful peace
pacts.
Saclag understands the importance of his practice and is a strong advocate of passing on his knowledge
and continuing the use of traditional dress and adornments. His efforts have included formal education,
reaching radio stations, and the formation of the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe. He was awarded in
2000.
7. Federico Caballero
Federico Caballero is a Filipino epic chanter who is a recipient of the National Living Treasures Award.
Epic chanter Federico Caballero of Calinog, Iloilo was best known for his expertise in the Sugidanon, a
Central Panay epic traditionally chanted while lying on a hammock, and his work in the preservation of
oral literature, documenting 10 Panay-Bukidnon epics in an extinct language with close ties to Kinaray-a.
His love of folklore began when he was young, hearing tales of grand adventures as bedtime stories, and
his mother taught him to recite epics in lieu of doing household chores. In his spare time, he also works
with the Department of Education’s Bureau of Non-Formal Education, teaching elders to read and write.
He was awarded in 2000.
8. Uwang Ahadas
Uwang Ahadas is a Filipino folk musician of the Yakan people who is a recipient of the National Living
Treasures Award. He is cited for his talent and expertise in playing various Yakan musical instruments
and for sharing his knowledge to the young people of his community. He continues to perform and teach
despite his dimming eyesight, keeping the Yakan musical tradition alive and flourishing.
Yakan musical instruments aren’t the easiest or most affordable to maintain, but Uwang Ahadas of
Lamitan, Basilan made it his life’s work to master them. From an early age, he and his siblings were
encouraged to play these instruments, and he developed a passion for them, training himself by observing
older members of the community.
At age 20, he broke tradition by reaching excellence in playing the kwintangan, an instrument typically
played by a woman. The instrument, made up of logs arranged beneath a tree near a rice field, is used to
call for abundant grains and rice growth. He is also dedicated to sharing his knowledge to younger folk;
his teaching style is hands-on and supportive, giving his students his full attention. He was awarded in
2000.
9. Darhata Sawabi

Darhata Sawabi is a Filipino weaver from Parang, Sulu known for pis syabit, a traditional Tausūg cloth
tapestry worn as a head covering by the people of Jolo. She is a recipient of the National Living Treasures
Award, having given the distinction in 2004.
Darhata Sawabi is a Tausug textile weaver from Sulu. She was hailed as an expert in weaving colorful
squares of cloth used for the pis syabit and for adornment of the native attire, bags and accessories as well
as in teaching the art to the younger generation
Darhata Sawabi’s mission was to lead young women towards making a living out of her craft. The
Parang, Sulu-based textile weaver’s primary creation was the headpiece pis siyabit — pis stands for the
pattern, which is said to be derived from India’s mandala, depicting spirituality through geometric forms,
and siyabit refers to the hook and technique. She gained recognition for the precision of her work and her
passion for preserving traditional designs, as well as teaching the youth and was awarded in 2004. She
passed away in 2005.
10. Eduardo Mutuc - metalsmith and artist

Eduardo Mutuc is a Kapampangan master craftsman of religious and secular art in plated silver. His
delicate craftsmanship and attention to detail are apparent from the smallest piece of metalcraft to the
forty-foot retablos he produces. Eduardo Mutuc is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating religious
and secular art in silver, bronze, and wood. His intricately detailed retablos, mirrors, altars, and carosas
are in churches and private collections.
Having finished up to elementary school, Eduardo Mutuc, a farmer at the time, became an apprentice to
furniture carvers to earn additional income. He had no prior knowledge of the work he was getting into,
but this didn’t stop him from expanding his experience and becoming one of the most respected creators
of religious and secular art today. He uses wood, silver, and bronze to create exquisitely detailed and
lifelike pieces of varying sizes: altars, mirrors, retablos, and even carosas. Mutuc is based in Apalit,
Pampanga. He was awarded in 2004.
11. Haja Amina Appi
Haja Amina Appi was a Filipino master mat weaver and teacher from the Sama indigenous people of
Ungos Matata, Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi. She was credited for creating colorful pandan mats with complex
geometric patterns.
Weaving pandan mats is a long and difficult process that is handed down from woman to woman across
generations: Pandan leaves are harvested and made into narrow, long strips, sun-dried, pressed, and dyed
before finally becoming suitable for weaving. The resulting mats are used for sleeping and saying prayers,
or given as gifts to newlyweds.
Haja Amina Appi of Ungos Matata, Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi created intricate mats that boast beautiful
geometric designs, vibrant colors, and fine symmetry. She was awarded National Living Treasure in
2004. She experimented with her work and developed her own tints to create the hues she had in mind.
Appi passed away in 2013, but her art lives on through her children and other young women in her
community.
12. Teofilo Garcia
Teofilo Garcia is best known for his work with Tabungaw, a unique, functional, all-weather headpiece
made of native gourd. The native gourd, locally known as upo, is hollowed out, polished, and varnished
to a bright orange sheen to make it weather resistant.
In San Quintin, Abra, Teofilo Garcia would often walk around town wearing his gourd casques. Through
word of mouth and his participation in the annual local harvest festival, Garcia was able to introduce the
tabungaw plant as a good and sturdy material for functional, elegant, and protective hats. He produces
everything he needs — planting and harvesting the gourds, splitting and refining rattan for the lining, and
weaving nito and bamboo for accents himself — and usually takes seven days to finish a hat. Awarded in
2012, he continues to experiment and work on new designs.
13. Magdalena Gamayo -
Magdalena Gamayo (born August 13, 1924) is a Filipino master weaver who makes “inabel”, an Ilokano
handwoven cloth. She is a Gawad ng Manlilikha ng Bayan Award (GAMABA) recipient from Pili, Ilocos
Norte for her wide array skills in textile weaving. She was awarded by President Benigno Simeon Aquino
III in 2012 at the Malacañang Palace in Manila. Her handiworks are finer than most abel. Her blankets
have a very high thread count and her designs are the most intricate that sometimes take up to five colors.
Her works were exhibited at the National Museum of the Philippines. Magdalena Gamayo or “Lola
Magdalena” is a master weaver who not only weaves traditional Ilocano textile but also designs new
patterns.
Based in Pinili, Ilocos Norte, Magdalena Gamayo took up weaving when she was 16, guided by her
aunt’s patterns. She received her first loom from her father three years later, which she would end up
using for 30 years. 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).
Gamayo’s skill and instinct are none more apparent than they are in her ability to replicate designs she’s
only seen once. Her binakol, or woven cloth, continues to draw praise and awe for its above-average
thread count and uniform weave. To keep Ilocos’ abel weaving tradition alive, she teaches her practice to
her cousin’s daughter-in-law and sister-in-law. She was awarded in 2012.
14. Ambalang Ausalin
Apuh Ambalang Ausalin is a Filipino master weaver from the city of Lamitan, Basilan. Apuh Ambalang
is renowned for her mastery of the crafts of sinaluan and sputangan, two of the most intricately designed
textiles of the indigenous Yakan community. The Yakan of Basilan are known to be among the finest
weavers in the Southern Philippines. They create eye-catching and colorful textiles with tiny motifs, and
possess techniques wielded only by seasoned weavers accomplishing designs restricted for utilization
within a certain weaving category only
She is called by her community of weavers, is highly esteemed in all of Lamitan. Her skill is deemed
incomparable: she is able to bring forth all designs and actualize all textile categories typical to the
Yakan. She can execute the suwah bekkat (cross-stitch-like embellishment) and suwah pendan
(embroidery-like embellishment) techniques of the bunga sama category. She possesses the complex
knowledge of the entire weaving process, aware at the same time of the cultural significance of each
textile design or category.
As a young girl, her mother, who was the best weaver of her time, mentored Ambalang. She practiced
with strips of lugus and coconut leaves (mat-making material). Having learned from her mother the
expert, Ambalang, using the backstrap loom, started to weave all designs of the bunga sama category,
then took on the sinalu’an and the seputangan, two of the most intricate categories in Yakan weaving.
They are the most intricate since the former requires the use of the minutest details of diamond or
rhomboid designs, and the latter demands balance and the filling up of all the spaces on the warp with
pussuk labung and dinglu or mata-mata patterns.
15. Estelita Bantilan
Bai Estelita Tumandan Bantilan is a Filipino textile weaver from the municipality of Malapatan,
Sarangani. She is credited with creating "some of the biggest, most subtly beautiful mats to be seen
anywhere in Southeast Asia.
She was at birth, seventy-two years ago, Labnai Tumndan. It was a recognizable name in the language,
Blaan, spoken in the montane hamlet of Mlasang. Her extended family reckoned their place in relation to
the mlasang, a tree that, once a year, flowers profusely, sheds the inflorescences immediately, and carpets
abode and environment in magnificence all at once.
Mid-twentieth century in what are now the Mindanao provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato, Blaan
speakers — also called Blaan, like their language — took on the slow beginning of village life of some
permanence. Their forebears had for centuries shifted domiciles systematically to regenerate land
cultivated to wild rice and yams. Around the time of Labnai’s childhood, the small community
understood their link to the Philippine political system to be vested in the new identity of Mlasang as
Upper Lasang, a barangay of the municipality of Malapatan, in a province called Cotabato. Shortly after,
this province was subdivided and Malapatan was absorbed into the new province of Sarangani. The child
Labnai, already precocious in mat weaving, took on the name Estelita in the 1950s. Protestant pastors had
installed themselves among her people, had commenced fundamental social change. When Estelita
married, becoming Mrs. Bantilan, she raised a family in the foreign faith.
But she kept to her mat weaving. She persisted where other women could not because her husband
Tuwada was atypically supportive. Estelita also carried on because mats were her gifts of choice to people
she cherished. She was never wont to monetize her mats. She carved out considerable time from domestic
and farming responsibilities to accomplish some of the biggest, most subtly beautiful mats to be seen
anywhere in Southeast Asia today. And, from the evidence of the mats she makes today, Estelita has
continued to cultivate a personal aesthetic through half a century.
16. Yabing Masalon Dulo
Fu Yabing Masalon Dulo, commonly referred to as Fu Yabing, was a Filipino textile master weaver and
dyer, credited with preserving the Blaan traditional mabal tabih art of ikat weaving and dyeing.
Yabing Dulo believes herself older than ninety. Her identity card marks that age, however, and date of
birth, the fourteenth of August supposedly 1910. Since the venerable ikat-dyer has a memory sharper than
blades, it seems always best to follow her counsel. She does know for a fact that she was born in a place
already called Landan in that long ago time. The exact sitio was and is still named Amgu-o, a settlement
of a few related families within Landan, today a barangay, a constituent unit of a town. During the early
twentieth century, Amgu-o was a cluster of houses thoroughly unconnected to the national political
organization. It was a hilly, forested place where streams were punctuated by all sizes of rocks. The trees,
then, were ancient.
Now ancient as well — accepting the honorific Fu, elder, with no hauteur — Fu Yabing has lived long
enough to have seen Amgu-o emerge as an exposed, dry place sans those trees. Her thatch-wood-concrete
domicile speaks of a permanence unconnected to the archaic system of shifting agriculture that gave its
practitioners to move entire hamlets following the obligation to regenerate soil after extended use; giving
that land back to the forest. Today, visitors reach Fu Yabing on foot, or by motorcycle, or a four-wheel
drive vehicle through pockmarked dirt passes; although it must be added, they are not overly daunted.
Landan is connected to the rest of the country by feeder roads, however flimsy, and through the national
political order, however tenuous in these parts.
It may indeed be suggested that it is Fu Yabing and her art that is unconnected to the relevant order of
things. They have been loosened free from their old coordinates in both nature and culture. Living in
radically different circumstances from her arboreal birthplace, among a people who in that past engaged
in precise reciprocal instead of market relations, she carries on with an exquisite tradition that at present
grafts poorly with the cash economy. But she has always faced the disjunct between systems by deploying
her gift: the expert making of fine warp ikat textiles. With the GAMABA (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan) recognition, it is clear she has prevailed.
Activity:
Direction: List down the Gamaba Artist in the table below with their descriptions. Give atleast 10 artist.

Artist Description

IV. Assessment
Direction: Read and analyze the following questions statements and choose the letter that corresponds to
your answer.
1. He is known for playing multiple indigenous instruments namely the basal (gong), aroding (mouth
harp), and the babarak (ring flute). Intaray is also known for his performance of kulilal or songs and bagit,
a form of vocal music.
a. Masino Intaray
b. Teofilo Garcia
c. Salinta Monon
d. Eduardo Mutuc

2. She is renowned for her mastery of the crafts of sinaluan and sputangan, two of the most intricately
designed textiles of the indigenous Yakan community.
a. Lang Dulay
b. Uwang Ahadas
c. Magdalena Gamayo
d. Ambalang Ausalin

3. Her handiworks are finer than most abel.

a. Federico Caballero
b. Uwang Ahadas
c. Magdalena Gamayo
d. Ambalang Ausalin

4. She was credited for creating colorful pandan mats with complex geometric patterns.
a. Haja Amina Appi
b. Ginaw Bilog
c. Magdalena Gamayo
d. Ambalang Ausalin

5. She was hailed as an expert in weaving colorful squares of cloth used for the pis syabit and for
adornment of the native attire, bags and accessories as well as in teaching the art to the younger
generation.
a. Masino Intaray
b. Darhata Sawabi
c. Salinta Monon
d. Eduardo Mutuc

6. He was best known for his expertise in the Sugidanon, a Central Panay epic traditionally chanted while
lying on a hammock, and his work in the preservation of oral literature, documenting 10 Panay-Bukidnon
epics in an extinct language with close ties to Kinaray-a.
a. Federico Caballero
b. Uwang Ahadas
c. Magdalena Gamayo
d. Yabing Masalon Dulo

7. He is cited for his talent and expertise in playing various Yakan musical instruments and for sharing his
knowledge to the young people of his community.
a. Uwang Ahadas
b. Salinta Monon
c. Yabing Masalon Dulo
d. Alonzo Saclag
8. He is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver, bronze, and
wood.
a. Masino Intaray
b. Teofilo Garcia
c. Salinta Monon
d. Eduardo Mutuc
9. He is instrumental in establishing the practice of children of wearing traditional Kalinga clothing for
important school events as well as the teaching of Kalinga folk songs in schools.
a. Uwang Ahadas
b. Salinta Monon
c. Yabing Masalon Dulo
d. Alonzo Saclag

10. She was known for her Bagobo-Tagabawa textiles and was known as the "last Bagobo weaver".
a. Masino Intaray
b. Teofilo Garcia
c. Salinta Monon
d. Eduardo Mutuc

V. Answer Key
I. Priming Activity
1. ARTIST
2. MUSICIAN
3. ARTWORK
4. INSTRUMENT
5. DESIGNS
6. AWARDS
7. MASTERPIECE
8. TRADITIONS
9. WEAVER
10. RELIGIOUS
II. Assessment
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. D
9. D
10. C

VI. REFERENCE:

Prepared by:
Manalo, Trisha Ysabel J.
Sidayon, Shara Bianca M.