NATIONAL LIVING TREASURES AWARD: GAWAD SA
MANLILIKHA NG BAYAN (GAMABA)
List of recipients of the National Living Treasures
Award or the Gawad Sa Manlilikha ng Bayan
Modernization and globalization threaten the cultural
and artistic heritage of Philippine Indigenous
communities. Indigenous communities seeks for better
economic opportunities in the city, leaving their rich
and unique language and practices behind that have
thrived for many years.
Ginaw Bilog
To address this concern of art and cultural
preservation, the Philippine government in 1992
enacted Republic Act 7355 known as the National
Living Treasures Award on the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng
Bayan. Through this law, the NCAA conducts a search
for Filipino traditional artists.
The NCCA follows these guidelines in identifying and
recognizing a person as a Manlilikha ng Bayan in the
field of folk epic literature, music, textile and mat
weaving, dance, metal work, and casque production:
a. He or 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.
b. He or she must have engaged in a folk art tradition
that has been in existence and documented for at least
5 years.
c. He or she must have consistently performed or
produced, over a significant period, works of superior
and distinctive quality.
d. He or 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 or 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 (deterioration) has left him or her incapable
of teaching his or her craft, may still be organized if the
following are met:
a. He or she had created a significant body of works
and/or has consistently displayed excellence in the
practice of his or her art, thus achieving important
contributions for its development.
b. He or she has been instrumental in the revitalization
of his or her community’s artistic tradition.
c. He or she has passed on to the other members of the
community skills in the folk art for which the
community is traditionally known.
d. His or her community has recognized him or her as
master and teacher of his or her craft.
•
Poet
•
Hanunuo Mangyan
•
Panaytayan, Oriental Mindoro
Masino Intaray
•
Musician and Storyteller
•
Pala’wan
•
Brookes Point, Palawan
Samaon Sulaiman
•
Musician
•
Magindanao
•
Mamasapano, Maguindanao
Lang Dulay
•
Textile Weaver
•
T’boli
•
Lake Sebu, South Cotabato
Salinta Monon
•
Textile Weaver
•
Tagabawa Bagobo
•
Bansalan, Davao del Sur
Alonzo Saclag
•
Musician and Dancer
•
Kalinga
•
Lubugan, Kalinga
Federico Caballero
•
Epic Chanter
•
Sulod-Bukidnon
•
Calinog, Iloilo
Uwang Ahadas
•
Musician
•
Yakan
•
Lamitan, Basilan
Darhata Sawabi
•
Textile Weaver
•
Tausug
•
Parang, Sulu
Eduardo Mutuc
•
Metalsmith
•
Kapampangan
•
Apalit, Pampanga
Haja Amina Appi
•
Mat Weaver
•
Sama
•
Tandubas, Tawi-Tawi
Teofilo Garcia
•
Casque Maker
•
Ilocano
•
San Quintin, Abra
Magdalena Gamayo
•
Textile Weaver
•
Ilocano
•
Pinili, Ilocos Norte
ESSENTIAL LEARNING
The National Living Treasures Award or Gawad sa
Manlilikha ng Bayan is a special honor given to
exemplary Filipinos who have lived a life in the
promotion of indigenous and folk art in the country.
Many of these art forms, such as weaving, epic
literature, and casque making, are endangered due to
the lure of globalization. The works and efforts of these
living treasures are testaments to the rich cultural and
artistic heritage of Filipinos, which need to be
preserved and protected.