“Manlilikha ng Bayan” Fu Yabing Masalon Dulo, the Blaan master weaver and ikat dyer known for promoting Philippine textiles, died Tuesday. She was 106.
According to her niece Josephine “Arjho” Cariño-Turner, Dulo died past midnight today, January 26.
“Her only and younger sister found her no longer breathing and went on at peace while she was asleep,” she said.
Dulo is a Blaan Ikat weaver from Mt. Matutum, Polomolok, South Cotabato.
According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), she served as a teacher and cultural elder among her kith and kin.
“Her exemplary oeuvre has brought pride to her community, animating the interest of many young Blaan in their remarkable cultural heritage,” the NCCA said in a Facebook post.
Dulo was conferred the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or National Living Treasure Award in 2016 recognizing her commitment to the safeguarding and promotion of the Blaan ‘mabal tabih’ (ikat weaving) tradition.
In April 1992, the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living Treasures Award was institutionalized through Republic Act No. 7355.
The NCCA, through the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan Executive Council, conducts the search for the finest traditional artists of the land.
As envisioned under R.A. 7355, “Manlilikha ng Bayan” shall mean a citizen engaged in any traditional art uniquely Filipino whose distinctive skills have reached such a high level of technical and artistic excellence and have been passed on to and widely practiced by the present generation in his/her community with the same degree of technical and artistic competence.