GAMABA & National

Artist Awardees

Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan

GAMABA - Gawad sa Manlilikha
ng Bayan or the
National Living
Treasures Award

• Republic Act No. 7355

 TEOFILO
GARCIA
Casque Maker
Ilocano
San Quintin,
Abra
2012

NATIONAL LIVING TREASURES

Teofilo Garcia (born March 27,
1941) is a Filipino hatter who is
regarded as a National Living
Treasure Award (2012)in the
Philippines for making tabungaw
hats, a type of Ilocano headwear.
 He makes it a point to wear a
tabungaw.
Tabungaw - unique, functional and
elegant headpiece that shields him
from the rain and the sun.

A closer look would reveal that it is made of the native gourd, hollowed
out, polished, and varnished to a bright orange sheen to improve its weather
resistance. The inside is lined with finely woven rattan matting, and the
brim sports a subtle bamboo weave for accent.
With the proper care, a well-
made tabungaw can last up to
three to four generations, and
the ones created by Teofilo are
among the best there are. They
are so sturdy that generally,
farmers need to own only one
at a time. Even Teofilo and his
son only own one tabungaw
each.
Teofilo has been a master artisan since he learned how to
make gourd casques and weave baskets from his grandfather
at the age of 15, Teofilo is still principally a farmer. Crafting
the tabungaw from planting and harvesting the upo, refining
the uway (rattan) that make up the lining of the tabungaw,
weaving the puser (bamboo) that serves as the accent for the
work, and finishing the work takes up a lot of time. It takes at
least seven days to finish one tabungaw, assuming that all the
materials are available. He uses only simple hand tools that
he designed himself and he is involved in each stage of the
production.
He rues the fact that there is very little
interest by other people to make
tabungaws even though it has potential as
an export product. Now that his children
are grown up, he has time to teach others
the craft and is looking forward to the
possibility. He is interested in developing
new ways to show contrast between the
shades of matting, and how to keep the
tabungaw colorfast regardless of the
weather. Years after he first learned how
to make a tabungaw, it still takes him a
long time to perfect the casque because he
is still perfecting his art.
He was conferred with the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan in
2012 in recognition of his excellence and dedication in making
the kattukong or gourd hat.
The Order of the National
Artists - the highest
national recognition given to
Filipino individuals who
have made significant
contributions to the
development of Philippine
arts
Namely: Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature,
Film, Broadcast Arts and Architecture and Allied Arts
 He believes that the true
Philippine Architecture is
“the product of two great
streams of culture, the
oriental and the
occidental… to produce a
new object of profound
harmony.”

It is this synthesis that underlies all his works, with his achievements in
concrete reflecting his mastery of space and scale.
Cultural Center of the Philippines
Folk Arts Theater

Philippine International
Convention Center
Philcite

The Westin Hotel (The

Sofitel Philippine
Plaza)
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
 Enter title

Click here to add content of the

text ， Click here to add content of the
text ， Click here to add text content ，

Enter title Enter title

Click here to add content of the Click here to add content of the
text ， Click here to add content of the text ， Click here to add content of the
text ， Click here to add text content ， text ， Click here to add text content ，
 04

Enter a headline
FOR STUDENTS