Estelita Bantilan, 85 years old, is one of the Philippine’s treasured national artists.

She is a B’laan master

Nanay Estelita uses indigenous materials found around the area where she lives in making banig. Buli,
the main material used for weaving, is harvested from the many buli plants scattered around her house.
The dyes used for coloring are from plant and rock pigments, which are harvested by her husband from
the nearby forest.

Weaving one Banig used to take one month to complete because working on it can only be done during
early morning and very late in the afternoon, when it is not hot. Heat, Nanay Estelita explained, makes
the buli impliable. Upper Lasang didn’t have electricity until last year, so Nanay Estelita could not work
at night. Now that they have electricity, she is able to weave at night and production time got down to
two weeks.

Even though she is already 85 years old, Nanay Estelita is still very active. She works on her garden when
not weaving. When asked what’s her secret for long life, with a big bright smile, she said “happiness.”
Another pride of Ilocandia is a 90 year old master inabel weaver who was awarded the Gawad
Manlilikha ng Bayan or National Living Treasure by no less than President Benigno Aquino III at the
Malacanang Palace on November of 2012.She is Ms Magdalena Gamayo who hails from the town of
Pinili, Ilocos Norte. Manlilikha ng Bayan is the highest honor given to artisan, craftsman or folk artist. It is
a title in the same order with National Artist and National Scientist. She had attended Sunday service
at a church. Took the opportunity to ask about her from her students and apprentices, including
her 11 year-old granddaughter, Arabella. Turning 92 in August, Nana Dalen, as they call her,
goes to the center everyday and persists on teaching newer generations everything about the
craft she has mastered, against the shriveling popularity of locally handmade textiles.
Magdalena has been relying on her instincts, practiced hands, and innate skills for years,
starting at the age 16, when she learned the art of weaving from her aunt. She was never
formally taught, but picked up the art on her own by copying the patterns. At that time, every girl
in her village knew how to weave, and there would be an informal competition among her
cousins and friends as to who could weave the finest, who could be more consistent. Her father
bought her her first loom at the age of 19; he obtained the sag’gat or hard wood himself and
gave the task to a local craftsman. Her first loom lasted her at least 30 years, sustaining her
through years of marriage and motherhood. When it was beyond repair, she considers herself
lucky to have been able to buy a secondhand one. Today, there are few locals who have the
skills to put together a loom similar to the ones Magdalena uses: a sturdy wooden frame with
three foot pedals with wide horizontal beams to support the warp and an even longer lengthwise
frame to keep the threads in place. It is different from the backstrap loom traditionally used in
the Cordillera, where the warp is anchored to a stationary object on one end and to the weaver’s
body on the other end.
Alonzo Saclag is a Kalinga master of dance and the performing arts from Lubuagan, Kalinga. He has
mastered not only the Kalinga musical instruments but also the dance patterns and movements
associated with his people’s ritual. He received no instruction, formal or otherwise, in the performing
arts. His tool was observation, his teacher and experience. He is the founder of the Kalinga Budong
Dance Troupe that tours around the world to represent and introduce Kalinga performing arts. He is a
GAMABA (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan) 2000 awardee. He lobbied that the abandoned Capitol
Building be turned into a museum, that schools implement the practice of donning the Kalinga costume
for important events, and that traditional Kalinga music should be broadcasted alongside contemporary
music in the local radio station. Aug. 4, 1942 / 75 yrs. old  Lubugan, Kalinga  Musician and Dancer
Alonzo Saclag In 2000, The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) declared Saclag as a
Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Awardee (National Living Treasure). Alonzo Saclag from Lubuagan,
Kalinga is known for his talent in playing different Kalinga musical instruments. He has contributed a lot
in preserving Kalinga culture through dances, music and customs.  A musician from Kalinga helps
preserve Kalinga culture through music and instruments. 
Uwang Ahadas is a Filipino folk musician of the Yakan people who is a recipient of
the National Living Treasures Award.Uwang Ahadas was born on February 15,
1945.[2] He went near blind when he was five years old. Ahadas along with his siblings
musicians were taught how to play Yakan traditional instruments as children. He first
learned how to play the gabbang, a wooden bamboo instrument similar to
the xylophone then learned how to play the agung[3] an instrument traditionally played
by Yakan men.By age 20, Ahadas had already mastered the kwintangan which is
considered as the most important Yakan musical instrument despite the instrument
traditionally reserved for women.[1] He can also play the tuntungan.He taught his
children how to play Yakan traditional instruments, including Darna who would later
become a teacher of these traditions herself. Ahadas went on to promote these
traditions outside his native town of Lamitan, Basilan.Ahadas was recognized as
a National Living Treasure by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in the
year 2000.
Whang-od, the iconic mambabatok of Kalinga, will receive the Dangal ng Haraya award, the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) announced this week.

First handed out in 2001, the national award is given to individuals who have made a lasting impact
and significant contribution to the country's culture and arts. Senators Edgardo Angara and Loren
Legarda are among those who have been conferred with the prestigious honor.

The NCCA said the presentation for Whang-od will be held on June 25. The commission described
her as one of the Philippines' most "recognized and respected master tattooist."

She "deserves honor and acknowledgement for her contributions, particularly by bringing to greater
attention the indigenous practice of tattooing and Filipino culture in general," the NCCA said.

Whang-od is the last surviving original, hand-tap tattoo artist from Kalinga's Butbut tribe.

Her worldwide popularity began in 2009 when tattoo anthropologist Lars Krutak went to Buscalan
and filmed her for a documentary. She has since been featured in the New York Times and the BBC,
with her work also being exhibited in museums in Paris and Toronto.

In February, the Senate adopted a resolution nominating her for the National Living Treasures Award
for fostering and preserving the traditional tattoo art of Kalinga.