Uwang Ahadas, 2000

Among the Yakan Basilan in Mindanao, instrumental music is given much importance connected

as it is with both agricultural cycles in the social realm. Uwang Ahadas is a Yakan and music is

his constant companion with heritage, as rich as it is steeped in music it is no wonder that even as

a young child Uwang Ahadas joyously embraced the demands and the discipline necessitated by

his art. By the age of 20, he had mastered the most important of the Yakan musical instruments

from the gang, a bamboo xylophone his skills gradually allowed him to progress to the Agung,

the Kwintangan kayu, and later the other instruments. He even broke through the tradition that

sets instruments to be played only by a certain gender such as Kwintangan and the Agung. He

was awarded the GAMABA because he is not content with merely his expertise but he dreams

that many more of his people will discover and study his art. Despite the dimming of his

eyesight, he has devoted his life to the teaching of the Yakan musical tradition with missionary

fervor he trains the young and his purpose carries him beyond borders. He displays a deep

knowledge of aesthetic abilities and the social context of these instruments through his artworks.

He serves as a living inspiration to the young people who are aspiring to a life of music, He is a

treasure of our culture and we must protect this culture for more generations to come. Personally,

if I were to become an artist I would gladly become a musician, music speaks a universal

language that all people understand every note and beat evokes an emotion that connects with

our souls and I want to be able to do that, to make music that becomes a language of love and an

instrument of our emotions.

Alonzo Saclag, 2000

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 on the local radio station. Alonzo Saclag is Kalinga’s master of

dance and the performing arts. He mastered not only the Kalinga musical but also the dance

patterns and movements associated with his people’s rituals. He received no instruction, formal

or otherwise, in the performing arts. His tool was observation, his teacher, and his experience. He

is the founder of the Kalinga Budong Dance Troupe which tours around the world to represent

and introduce Kalinga performing arts. Alonzo Saclag is a musician from Kalinga who helps

preserve Kalinga culture through music and instruments. Alonzo Saclag is known for his talents

in playing different Kalinga musical instruments. He has contributed a lot to preserving Kalinga

culture through dances, music, and customs. In 2000, The National Commission for Culture and

the Arts (NCCA) declared Alonzo Saclag as a Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Awardee

(National Living Treasure).

Masino Intaray, 1993

Masino Intaray was a Filipino poet, bard artist, and musician who is a Palawan native known for

his performance of the local traditions of basal, kulilal, and bagit. He is also a recipient of the

National Living Treasure recognition. He is known for playing multiple indigenous instruments

namely the basal (gong), aruding (Jew’s harp), and the babarak (ring flute). Intaray is also known

for his performance of kulilal or songs and bagit, a form of vocal music. He was given the

Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Award in 1993 for his Outstanding Master of Various

Traditional Music Instruments of the Palawan such as Basal, kulilal, and Bagit. This man is also
a prolific and pre-eminent epic chanter and storyteller. Basal is a kind of musical ensemble

played during tambilaw (Offering to the Lord of Rice); a rice wine-drinking ceremony. Kulilal is

a lyric poem about love being sung to the accompaniment of kusyapi, two-stringed lute, and

pagang, bamboo zither. Bagit is a piece of instrumental music reflecting the sound and

movement of nature.

SAMAON SULAIMAN (+ 2011)

Musician

Magindanao

Mama sa Pano, Maguindanao

1993

The Magindanaon, who are among the largest of Filipino Islamic groups, are concentrated in the

towns of Dinaig, Datu Piang, Maganoy and Buluan in Magindanao province. Highly

sophisticated in weaving, okir designs, jewelry, metalwork and brassware, their art is Southeast

Asian yet distinct in character.

In the field of music, the Magindanaon has few peers among Filipino cultural communities.

Their masters on the kulintang (gong-chime) and kutyapi (two-stringed plucked lute) are

comparable to any instrumental virtuoso in the East or West.

The kutyapi is a favorite solo instrument among both Muslim and non-Muslim Filipinos and is

also played in combination with other instruments. It exists in a great variety of designs, shapes,
and sizes and known by such names as kotapi (Subanon), fegereng (Tiruray), faglong (B’laan),

hegelong (T’boli) and kuglong or kudlong (Manobo).

The Magindanao kutyapi is one of the most technically demanding and difficult to master among

Filipino traditional instruments, which is one reason why the younger generation is not too keen

to learn it. Of its two strings, one provides the rhythmic drone, while the other has movable frets

that allow melodies to be played in two sets of pentatonic scales, one containing semitones, the

other containing none.

Magindanao kutyapi music is rich in melodic and rhythmic invention, explores a wide range of

timbres and sound phenomena – both human and natural, possesses a subtle and variable tuning

system, and is deeply poetic in inspiration.

Though it is the kulintang that is most popular among the Magindanaon, it is the kutyapi that

captivates with its intimate, meditative, almost mystical charm. It retains a delicate, quiet temper

even at its most celebrative and ebullient mood.

Samaon Sulaiman achieved the highest level of excellence in the art of kutyapi playing. His

extensive repertoire of dinaladay, linapu, minuna, binalig, and other forms and styles interpreted

with refinement and sensitivity fully demonstrate and creative and expressive possibilities of his

instrument.

Learning to play the kutyapi from his uncle when he was about 13 years old, he has since, at 35

become the most acclaimed kutyapi master and teacher of his instrument in Libutan and other

barangays of Maganoy town, deeply influencing the other acknowledged experts in kutyapi in

the area, such as Esmael Ahmad, Bitul Sulaiman, Nguda Latip, Ali Ahmad and Tukal Nanalon.
Aside from kutyapi, Samaon is also proficient in kulintang, agong (suspended bossed gong with

wide rim), gandingan (bossed gong with narrow rim), palendag (lip-valley flute), and tambul.

Samaon was a popular barber in his community and serve as an Imam in the Libutan mosque.

For his exemplary artistry and dedication to his chosen instrument, for his unwavering

commitment to the music of the kutyapi at a time when this instrument no longer exists in many

parts of Mindanao, Samaon Sulaiman is worthy of emulation and the highest honors. (Prof.

Felipe M. de Leon, Jr.)