The National Living Treasures Award (Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan) was institutionalized in 1992 through

Republic Act No. 7355. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, which is the highest policy-making and
coordinating body of the Philippines for culture and the arts, was tasked with the implementation and awarding.
This is in line with UNESCO's criteria of Living National Treasures.

Criteria to be qualified as a “Manlilikha ng Bayan”

1. He/she is an inhabitant of an indigenous/traditional cultural community anywhere in the Philippines that has
preserved indigenous customs, beliefs, rituals and traditions and/or has syncretized whatever external elements
that have influenced it.

2. He/she must have engaged in a folk art tradition that has been in existence and documented for at least fifty
(50) years.

3. He/she must have consistently performed or produced over a significant period, works of superior and
distinctive quality.

4. He/she must possess a mastery of tools and materials needed by the art and must have an established
reputation in the art as master and maker of works of extraordinary technical quality.

5. He/she must have passed on and/or will pass on to other members of the community their skills in the folk art
for which the community is traditionally known.

6. However, a candidate who, due to age or infirmity, has left him/her/them incapable of teaching further
his/her/their craft, may still be recognized provided that he/she/they must possess the qualifications as
enumerated above.

Categories

1. Folk Architecture
2. Maritime Transportation
3. Weaving
4. Carving
5. Performing Arts
6. Literature
7. Graphic and plastic arts
8. Ornament
9. Textile and fabric art
10. Pottery
11. Ethnomedicine

Rewards and Benefits for “Manlilikha ng Bayan”

1. The awardee receives a specially designed gold medallion;

2. An initial grant of Php 100,000;

3. Php 10,000 monthly stipend for life;

4. Additional personal allowance of Php 14,000 if there is a need;

5. Php 750,000 medical and hospitalization annual benefits

6. Funeral assistance and tribute fit for a National Living Treasure

The Process of Selecting the “Manlilikha ng Bayan" Awardee

1. An Ad Hoc panel of Experts shall be deployed in the different regions to conduct a thorough search and
selection of candidates in the varied traditional folk arts category;

2. Documentation of candidate-nominees for the GAMABA.

3. Guided by the criteria and qualifications for becoming a Manililikha ng Bayan set by the rules and regulations
in the law the final list of nominees will be submitted to the Ad Hoc Panel of Experts.

4. The Ad Hoc Screening Committee shall recommend nominees for the award to an Ad Hoc Panel of Reviewers;

5. The Ad Hoc panel of Reviewers shall evaluate qualifications of the nominees. The documentation submitted by
the Ad Hoc Search Committees shall be considered in the evaluation process.

6. The Ad Hoc panel of Reviewers shall evaluate qualifications of the nominees. The documentation

submitted by the Ad Hoc Search Committees shall be considered in the evaluation process.

7. The names of the GAMABA awardees approved by the NCCA Board shall be submitted to the President of the
Philippines for proclamation.

THE NATIONAL LIVING TREASURE

Ginaw Bilog - born on January 3, 1953 is a Hanunoo Mangyan from Mansalay, Mindoro. He initiated the
preservation of the Ambahan which is the key to the exploration of the Mangyan soul . Ambahan is a poetic
literary form comprised of seven- syllable lines.

Ambahan - The Ambahan in baybayin is a pre-colonial script which is a poetic literary form engraved in
bamboo and the like with the use of stylus or knives

Masino Intaray - A gifted poet, epic chanter, storyteller and musician from Makagwa Valley, Palawan. A master of
traditional music instruments such as basal, kulilaland bagit. He is also an expert in the aroding (mouth harp) and
babarak or ring flute

Samaon Sulaiman - at age 35 is the most honored kutyapi master and teacher in Maganoy, Mindanao as he is
very proficient in the kulintang, agong or suspended bosses gong with wide rim, tambul gandingan or bossed
gong with narrow rim, andpalendagor lip-valleyflute.

Lang Dulay - A master textile weaver from T'boli, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. Lang Dulay was only 12 when she
first learned how to weave using Abaca fibers.

Salinta Monon - A Bagobo born on December 12, 1920, at Bansalan, Davao del Sur, Salinta Monon at 12 desired
to be taught how to weave. She developed a keen eye for traditional designs, and at the age of 65, she can still
identify a design at a glance.

Alonzo Saclag - From Lubuagan, Kalinga, Alonzo Saclag devoted his energy to the preservation of artifacts such as
the Kalinga gong or the gangsa to revive these dying treasures.

Federico Caballero - is an epic-chanter from Kalinog, Iloilo and from the mountains of Central Panay who
ceaselessly worked for the documentation of the epics and oral literature of his people. He preserved and
promoted the encyclopedic folklore of Panay

Uwang Ahadas - is a Yakan from Lamitan, Basilan who values many musical instruments because he was nearly
blind. From the gabbang, a bamboo xylophone, his skills progressed to the playing of the agung, the kwintangan
kayu, and later other more complex instruments.

Darhata Sawabi - Darhata is a weaver of pis syabit which is the traditional cloth tapestry worn as a head cover by
the Tausugs of Jolo, Sulu.

Eduardo Mutuc - From Apalit, Pampanga Eduardo Mutuc is an artist who has dedicated his life to creating
religious and secular art in silver, bronze, and wood. His intricately detailed retablos, mirrors, altars, and carosas
are in churches and private collections.