82nd Birth Anniversary of Manlilikha ng Bayan Estelita Bantilan

Posted on: October 17, 2022 | National Museum of the Philippines

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates the life of #ManlilikhaNgBayan Estelita Tumandan Bantilan on her 82nd birthday.

MB Estelita Tumandan Bantilan, also known as Labnai, is a renowned master weaver of Blaan mats called igêm and was conferred with the Manlilikha ng Bayan award in 2016. She advocates traditions, including the indigenous way of creating her masterpieces, from the careful selection, drying, and stripping of romblon (Pandanus sp.) leaves to dyeing and weaving. She passes on the tradition by training the younger generation of Blaan weavers in her community with the assistance of her daughter at the GAMABA Cultural Center in Malapatan, Sarangani.

On 11 May 2022, an igêm with sulif design by Bai Labnai was part of the newly donated works of Manlilikha ng Bayan, which the GAMABA Executive Council of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts turned over to the National Museum of the Philippines. Sulif is a two-colored pattern of wavy stripes representing the act of swimming, diving in, and going back to the surface of the water—a reflection of the influence of the natural environment of Sarangani on her work. Her other signature designs are sangbangkil (wavy patterns of quadrilaterals), sulong-sulong (windows), and daksina (propeller-like pattern).

Learn more about MB Labnai and her works by visiting the Manlilikha ng Bayan Hall at the 3F National Museum of Anthropology in Manila as we reopen soon.

#EstelitaTumandanBantilan
#GAMABA
#Igem

Article and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division and the GAMABA Executive Council