On Lang Dulay's Impact on Society

Lang Dulay is a National Living Treasure indeed, not only in 1998, but for a lifetime as well since she doesn’t only represent the power of women, but she also manifests how artistry in craftmanship every Filipinos’ are.

With her burning passion plus the astounding creativity that she has towards her crafts, it is no surprise why Lang Dulay is honorable and becomes one of the awardees in Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA). Despite the tedious process of the traditional T’nalak weaving, she persists in creating it and encourages the people, especially her successors and women from T’boli, to continue making it.

Lang Dulay’s works reflect the struggle and stories of her tribe, which I think the reason why her works treated like a treasure since it manifests inspiration and encouragement. Also, despite the existence of voguish designs in weaving, which is easier to do, she was still determined to sustain and commit to the traditional laborious procedure and style of weaving that contribute to the preservation of their culture.

For all of that reasons, she deserves the award from The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which is the National Living Treasures in 1998, because she truly is a gem of our country and T’boli tribe due to her excellence and diligence in doing her crafts. Due to her perseverance and artistry, T’nalak weaving has shown to the world in the form of fashion and house accessories. Moreover, before Lang Dulay passed away, she was able to bring the dreams not only of the Dreamweaver but her whole tribe as well into reality and become a wisdom keeper of T’boli.

Lang Dulay may be gone, but her legacy will keep living and existing through her works and successors, whom she molds and encourage to continue weaving their dreams.