“There will be a weaving demonstration and cultural encounter at the Inabel Center, arranged by the Pinili Local Government Unit headed by the 58-year-old Mayor Labasan”
SCORES of culture addicts, the young and old, including women and students, are expected to gather in Lumbaan-Bicbica, 10 kms east of the town proper of Pinili in Ilocos Norte on Aug 13 to celebrate the 101st birthday of Ilocos Region’s first of two government-designated National Living Treasures.
The day officially begins at 10 am, four hours and 20 minutes after the Ilocos sun had filtered through the verdant crowns of the barangay, one of 25 in the garlic-producing municipality watched by the Ilocos mountain range on its eastern terrain.
Mavi Cercado, head of the town’s tourism office, told us there will be three contests to deck the occasion, properly kind of different strokes for different folks: a photo-, a feature writing-, and a charcoal drawing contest.
There will also be a weaving demonstration and cultural encounter at the Inabel Center, arranged by the Pinili Local Government Unit headed by the 58-year-old Mayor Rommel Labasan who, along with other elected and appointed officials, will be present will deliver a message to honor Mrs. Magdalena Galinato-Gamayo and mark the first Inabel Day in the town.
Gamayo, the first of two National Living Treasures from the Ilocos Region and Ilocos Norte, is followed by Adelita Romualdo-Bagcal, the latter recognized on Dec 15, 2023 by the national government which recognized her for her dedication to preserving and promoting Ilokano oral traditions, particularly the Dallot, or chanted poetry.
A recipient of the award is “a Filipino citizen or group of Filipino citizens engaged in any traditional art uniquely Filipino, whose distinctive skills have reached such a high level of technical and artistic excellence and have been passed on to and widely practiced by the present generations in their community with the same degree of technical and artistic competence.
By 10 am, the 135-centimeter Gamayo shall have finished her breakfast, prepared by Marjoe Galinato, son of her brother, and his wife, before cultural activity begins.
Past sunset at 6.26 pm on Wednesday, after the celebratory songs have been sung and the guests have started returning to their respective homes in the town and other municipalities, Gamayo will be retiring to bed, after relishing her favorite endemic risek fish, native chicken meat and vegetables.
That, after taking her losartan, at times omeprazole since 2019, when she started taking in maintenance only and vitamins prescribed by her doctor during the coronavirus pandemic when she slowed down stepping on her loom’s pedals.
The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan was conferred on Mrs Gamayo in 2012 for her excellent contribution to the cultural heritage of the country as a master textile weaver.
Republic Act 7355 or Manlilikha ng Bayan Act of 1992 was enacted to preserve and promote Philippine traditional arts, whether visual, performing, or literary, for their cultural value and also honors and supports traditional artists for their contribution to the national heritage.
The work of a Manlilikha ng Bayan is presumed to be an Important Cultural Property, second to National Cultural Treasure, the highest category of cultural property through Republic Act 10066, also known as the National Heritage Act of 2009.
Mrs. Gamayo’s daily routine begins at 4 a.m. when she rises from her bed and starts stretching her body and shaking a leg at the Center, established for her and her throng of understudies by the government.
To date, there are 25 declared National Living Treasures or Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan in the Philippines – two of whom are from the Ilocos Region and both are from Ilocos Norte.
They have been recognized for their mastery of traditional folk arts and their significant contributions to Philippine culture – the GAMABA award is the highest state honor given to a Filipino traditional artist.
GAMABA awardees receive a lifetime monthly stipend of P14,000, in addition to a gold medallion and an initial grant of P100,000 upon receiving the award. They are also entitled to medical and hospitalization benefits not exceeding P750,000 annually, similar to National Artists.
Other benefits include funeral assistance and burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Metro Manila.
In an earlier interview with this writer, Mrs Gamayo, replying to a morbid topic, said “I do not want to be buried (at the Libingan ng mga Bayani). I much prefer our place (in Pinili).”
Gamayo started weaving at age nine after finishing grade 3 in nearby barangay Sacritan, in efforts to help her siblings – three girls and five boys – and her parents, which suggests she has been on the loom pedal for nearly 92 years.
Born in Pinili two years after the erstwhile barangays of Paoay, Badoc and Batac became Ilocos Norte’s 17th municipality, the self-possessed Magdalena watched her paternal aunts, whose roots are from Paoay, the town heretofore known across the region for its distinct woven fabric.
Pinili is also known as the place where warriors walked during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century and during the Second World War when Japanese troops occupied the arboraceous northern hills.
There is a word called “abel” which is the Ilokano word for weave, and “inabel” can be interpreted to mean any kind of woven fabric.
In the world of weaving, “inabel” is particularly used to refer to textile distinctly Ilokano in origin.
With her at the center are 12 women and a male weaver – relatives and neighbors — who are perpetuating and institutionalizing her winning design described as “Inubon a Sabong.”
Loosely translated, it means “A String of Flowers” – a quick reminder of the 1941 song “A String of Pearls” composed by violinist Jerry Grya with lyrics by Eddie DeLange and set into music by trombonist Glenn Miller and His Orchestra which became #1 hit, a big band and jazz standard.
Mrs. Gamayo’s understudies are also weaving other designs called in Ilokano bola bola, tawwa-tawwa, pinilian,, binakol, kusikos and sinan paid.
She is ultracareful in her coaching to ensure comparative durability, which has become known in the region.
Buyers travel to Lumbaan-Bicbica through the cemented road from the town proper, only four kilometers from the old MacArthur national highway which is now called the Manila North Road that cuts through the Ilocos region from the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway in the Central Plains north of the capital.
Her backup members don’t get any wage, but she says each gets two-thirds of their sale from their respective woven fabrics – bought in Vigan, Ilocos Sur or in Metro Manila – one third of which would be given to the center for its maintenance.
None to the government.
One fill-in can weave more or less 60 yards in a month, depending on the design of the fabric.
From a small place of loom weavers prior to receiving her GAMABA, Mrs Gamayo now has, thanks to the government, 18 looms and a wider space used for the GAMABA Cultural Center, funded by the provincial government.
There are other extra looms because of the rising number of trainees in the center, with one loom occupying 2 x 1 ½ square meter area.
There are times the weavers attend trade fairs sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, especially those in the capital.
