BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF MANLILIKHA NG BAYAN UWANG AHADAS

Today, the #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the 77th birthday of Manlilikha ng Bayan Uwang Ahadas.

Manlilikha ng Bayan Uwang Ahadas is gifted with a talent for music which he learned by simply observing the performances of the older members of the Yakan community. He is known for his mastery in playing traditional Yakan instruments such as the agung, gabbang, and kwintangan kayu. Agung (bossed gong) is meant to be played by men while the gabbang is a bamboo xylophone with a beater called lisag. The kwintangan kayu, on the other hand, is a set of logs of different sizes that are usually suspended under a tree near the rice fields, with the belief that its music is beneficial for the growth of rice. Despite the kwintangan being traditionally meant to be played by women, Manlilikha ng Bayan Uwang Ahadas mastered it at the age of 20.

He was conferred with the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) in 2000 in recognition of his excellent contribution to the preservation of Yakan traditional music. Manlilikha ng Bayan Uwang Ahadas has been teaching his children along with other younger members of the community about Yakan music to ensure its transmission and continuity. A GAMABA Cultural Center dedicated to him is currently being built as part of the GAMABA program aim of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to conserve Yakan culture and tradition.

#UwangAhadas
#ManlilikhaNgBayan
#GAMABA
#MuseumFromHome

Text and poster by NMP Ethnology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines