Gawad sa Manlilikha ng

Bayan
 Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan
 National Living Treasures Award
 Thirteen individuals have received this distinction
from the time of the establishment of the award in
April 1992 through Republic Act No. 7355 until
2012.
 National Commission for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) - bestows the highest awards for
culture and the arts including National Artist
Award.
 NCCA -The highest policy-making and
coordinating body for culture and the arts of the
State
 Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan
• TRADITIONAL ART – is based on
indigenous people’s cultures that are
largely honed by oral tradition. A
distinct feature of the GAMABA is its
emphasis on the intangible and
communal aspects of art production
are closely aligned with the process-
based and collaborative inclination of
some contemporary art practices.
 National Commission for Culture
and the Arts (NCCA)
• search for the finest traditional artists of the land
• adopts a program that will ensure the transfer of
their skills to others and
• undertakes measures to promote a genuine
appreciation of and instil pride among our
people about the genius of the Manlilikha ng
Bayan
 Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan
 First awarded in 1993 to three outstanding artists in
music and poetry
 has its roots in the 1988 National Folk Artists Award
organized by the Rotary Club of Makati-Ayala
 Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan
Awards or GAMABA is an award that acknowledges
folk and indigenous artists who, despite the modern
times, remain true to their traditions. It is administered
by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts
 (NCCA) through Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan
Committee.
 Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan
 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.
 As Filipinos, they bring age-old customs,
crafts and ways of living to the attention and
appreciation of Filipino life.
 They provide us with a vision of ourselves and
of our nation, a vision we might be able to
realize someday, once we are given the
opportunity to be true to ourselves as these
artists have remained truthful to their art.
R.A. 7355
o “Manlilikha ng Bayan”
o shall mean a citizen engaged in any
traditional art uniquely Filipino
o whose distinctive skills have reached such a
high level of technical and artistic excellence
and
o have been passed on to and widely practiced
by the present generation in his/her
community with the same degree of technical
and artistic competence. 
How does one become a
Manlilikha ng Bayan?
• To become a “Manlilikha ng Bayan”, the
candidate must possess the following
qualifications:
a. He/she is an inhabitant of an
indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere
in the Philippines that has preserved indigenous
customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions and/or has
syncretized whatever external elements that have
influenced it.
How does one become a
Manlilikha ng Bayan?
b. He/she must have engaged in a folk
art tradition that has been in existence and
documented for at least fifty (50) years.
c. He/she must have consistently
performed or produced over a significant
period, works of superior and distinctive
quality.
How does one become a
Manlilikha ng Bayan?
d. He/she must possess a mastery of
tools and materials needed by the art, and
must have an established reputation in the
art as master and maker of works of
extraordinary technical quality.
e. He/she must have passed on and/or
will pass on to other members of the
community their skills in the folk art for which
the community is traditionally known.
A traditional artist who possesses all
the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan
candidate, but due to age or infirmity
has left him/her incapable of teaching
further his/her craft, may still be
recognized if:
a. He/she had created a significant
body of works and/or has consistently
displayed excellence in the practice of
his/her art, thus achieving important
contributions for its development.
A traditional artist who possesses all
the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan
candidate, but due to age or infirmity
has left him/her incapable of teaching
further his/her craft, may still be
recognized if:
b. He/she has been instrumental in the
revitalization of his/her community’s artistic
tradition.
A traditional artist who possesses all
the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan
candidate, but due to age or infirmity
has left him/her incapable of teaching
further his/her craft, may still be
recognized if:
c. He/she has passed on to the other
members of the community skills in the folk
art for which the community is traditionally
known.
A traditional artist who possesses all
the qualities of a Manlilikha ng Bayan
candidate, but due to age or infirmity
has left him/her incapable of teaching
further his/her craft, may still be
recognized if:
d. His/her community has recognized
him/her as master and teacher of his/her
craft.
Categories:
 The Award shall be given in each, but not
limited to the following categories of
traditional folk arts, viz.:
folk architecture,
maritime transport,
weaving carving,
performing arts,
Categories:
 The Award shall be given in each, but not
limited to the following categories of
traditional folk arts, viz.:
literature,
graphic and plastic arts,
ornament,
textile or fiber art,
pottery and other artistic expressions of
traditional culture.
Categories:

 Consideration shall be given to

geographical distribution and balance of
artistic categories.
What are the incentives
received by the awardee?
 A Manlilikha ng Bayan awardee receives:
specially designed gold medallion,
an initial grant of P100,000 and
P10,000 monthly stipend for life.
What are the incentives
received by the awardee?
 In consonance with the provision of
Republic Act No. 7355, which states that
“the monetary grant may be increased
whenever circumstances so warrant,” the
NCCA board approved:
an additional monthly personal allowance of
P14,000 for the awardees
 Teofilo
Garcia
wearing a
Tabungaw
hat
His artistic rendering of a
functional object, dedication
to craft and commitment to
community make him a
bearer of culture.
 Teofilo Garcia
• A 2012 awardee is a farmer in the town of San
Quintin, a municipality in Abra Province, better
known for tending a plot of land filled with enlarged
“upo” or gourd. After planting the upo in November
and harvesting the mature fruit during the summer
months of March to May. Garcia would transform the
harvest into durable hats protecting people,
especially farmers exposed for long hours under the
heat of the sun. Each upo or tabungaw (in Ilokano is
hollowed out, polished and varnished, which gives
the tabungaw hat a distinctive yellow sheen.
• The varnish also strengthens the organic material to
make it weather resistant. Thin strips of rattan or
uway are woven to line the hat, while another type of
intricate weave, usually made of fern or nito, is
placed on the mouth of the hat as decoration.
• Garcia was instrumental in fortifying the tradition
through six decades worth of persistent practice.
• In recent years, he initiated training for students at
San Quintin National High School to pass the
knowledge of tabungaw hat making, inspiring the
youth to value the tradition and to ensure its upkeep.
Q. How does tradition become contemporary;
and the contemporary traditional?

• Philippine traditional art, though based on

long-standing, established practices, has
always been contemporary in a sense that it
is art that is being made now, and that it
persists as part of a continuing performance
of tradition. Although traditional artists do
not consider their work as a contemporary
art form, its similarities to contemporary art
practices can be discerned.
• The process of making the tabungaw hats
for example, involves the interface of local
scientific knowledge and art. Prior to
crafting the hat, the growth of enlarged
tabungaw is made possible through
techniques that manage the interplay of
seed, earth, and forces of nature within a
particular duration.
 GAMABA Awardees

Magdalena Gamayo Teofilo Garcia

• 2012
• TEOFILO GARCIA &
MAGDALENA GAMAYO
• On Nov. 8, 2012, an inabel weaver and a
tabungaw maker, both Ilocano, were
conferred the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan
by Pres. Benigno Aquino, III, at the
Malacañang Palace.
• Awarded were tabungaw maker Teofilo Garcia
from San Quintin, Abra, and inabel weaver
Magdalena Gamayo from Pinili, Ilocos Norte.
 GAMABA Awardees

Darhata Sawabi Haja Amina Appi Eduardo Mutuc

• 2004
• Darhata Sawabi is a Tausug (Sulu) weaver of pis syabit - the
traditional cloth tapestry worn as a
head cover.
• Haja Amina Appi is recognized as a master mat weaver among t
Sama (Tawi-tawi) indigenous community for her unique designs
straightness of her edging (tabig), and fineness of her sasa and
• kima-kima (mat weaving)
• Eduardo Mutuc is an artist from Apalit, Pampanga who has
dedicated his life to creating religious and secular art in silver,
bronze, and wood.
 GAMABA Awardees

Uwang Ahadas Alonzo Saclag Federico Caballero

• 2000
• Alonzo Saclag  (Apayao) is a Kalinga master of
dance and the performing arts who mastered not
only the “Kalinga” musical instruments but also
the dance patterns and movements associated
with his people’s ritual.
• Federico Caballero is a Sulod-Bukidnon
(Sugidanon) epic chanter from Kalinog, Iloilo who
ceaselessly works for the documentation of the
oral literature, particularly the epics, of his people.
• Uwang Ahadas (Lamitan, Basilan)  is a Yakan
musician who is a master of the kwintangan, 
kayu,and tuntungan instruments.
 GAMABA Awardees

Lang Dulay Salinta Monon

• 1998
• Lang Dulay (South Cotabato)  is a T'boli
traditional weaver of "tinalak" or T'boli
cloth made of colorful abaca fabrics.
• Salinta Monon (Davao Del Sur) is a
Tagabanwa-Bagobo traditional weaver
of distinct abaca fabrics called inabal. 
 GAMABA Awardees

Ginaw Bilog Masino Intaray Samaon Sulaiman

• 1993
• Ginaw Bilog (Oriental Mindoro) is a
Hanunoo Mangyan poet who is considered
as a master of the Ambahan poetry.
• Masino Intaray (Palawan)  is a prolific and
pre-eminent epic chanter and story teller
recognized for his outstanding mastery of
various traditional musical instruments of
the Palaw'an people- such as
 basal, kulilal and bagit.
• Samaon Sulaiman (Maguindanao)
• is an acclaimed kudyapi master and
teacher of this instrument and is also
proficient in kulintang, agong, 
gandingan, palendag, and tambul.