Appu Ambaleng Ausalin. Yakan. National Living Treasure.

I met Ambaleng Ausalin by chance at a bus stop while waiting for the bus that would take us from Lamitan to Isabela in Basilan. My friend Earl told me that she was a highly regarded weaver and made the introductions. She is a highly animated woman and quite funny. Ten months later, she was awarded the GAMABA Manlilikha ng Bayan distinction for Yakan weaving.

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All Yakan women—including Yakan master weaver, Ambalang Ausalin, who hails from Parangbasak, Lamitan—were trained by their mothers and grandmothers. Ambalang is a highly respected weaver in all of Lamitan and has served two generations of the Yakan royal family. Her skill in weaving is incomparable as she is able to execute all the designs and categories of a Yakan weave on a backstrap loom. She is also acclaimed for having mastered all the essential processes involved in the production of the textile from the warping and creating the design, to the actual weaving and costume-making.

Ambalang was diligently trained by her mother, Bariya, who was also hailed as an expert in Yakan weaving. Like her mother, she utilizes the traditional weaving techniques like the suwah bekkat (cross-stitch-like embellishment) and suwah pendan (embroidery-like embellishment) when weaving bunga-sama. Aside from knowing the technicalities of Yakan weaving, Ambalang is also able to express the significance and purpose of each textile or category of Yakan weaving based on culture and tradition. With her immense knowledge and skill in Yakan weaving, she was nominated for the NCCA National Living Treasure Award or Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) in 2009.

From PASSAGES