Magdalena Gamayo has become more than a master of inabel weaving. She is a living link to an Ilokano craft passed from one generation to the next, and a symbol of the struggle to keep that tradition alive.
Ilocos Norte marked Gamayo’s birthday on Thursday in her hometown of Pinili, celebrating decades of work devoted to preserving the province’s centuries-old handloom weaving tradition.
Born on August 13, 1924, Gamayo began learning the craft at 16, taught by relatives and veteran weavers who showed her how to prepare threads, operate a traditional handloom, and create the intricate patterns characteristic of Ilokano textiles.
Over the years, she became known for finely woven inabel distinguished by its precision, quality, and traditional motifs. Her work eventually attracted admirers in the Philippines and abroad.
Her mastery earned her the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, or GAMABA, award in 2012, one of the country’s highest honors for traditional artists.
But her contribution extends beyond the textiles she has produced. Gamayo has passed her knowledge to younger generations, helping ensure that techniques that once belonged largely to village weavers do not disappear.
That effort received a new boost during Thursday’s celebration in Lumbaan-Bicbica, where at least four college students received scholarships funded by the Pinili local government. The grants support students pursuing culture, arts, local heritage, community development, tourism, and related fields.
“This is one of our ways to honor and express our gratitude to Nana Daleng and ensure that the weaving industry will be preserved from generation to generation,” Pinili Mayor Rommel Labasan said in an interview.
The initiative underscores a challenge facing traditional crafts across the Philippines: keeping younger generations interested in skills that require years of practice at a time when modern livelihoods offer very different paths.
For Ilocos Norte, Gamayo represents both what has survived and what could still be lost.
At the Pinili Inabel Center near her home, her work demonstrates how weaving can be more than a decorative craft. The textiles carry patterns, techniques and stories that connect contemporary Ilokanos to a much older way of life.
Ilocos Norte 2nd District Rep. Eugenio Angelo Barba said Gamayo’s life showed how a craft rooted in a small community could become a source of pride for an entire province and an important part of the country’s cultural identity.
“Thank you, Nana Daleng, for your legacy and for inspiring the younger generations of weavers to ensure that this Ilocano cultural heritage remains an integral part of the Ilocano and national history,” Barba said.
Barba has also introduced House Bill No. 892, which seeks to declare August 13 a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte in honor of Gamayo. The measure would give permanent, localized recognition to one of the province’s most celebrated cultural figures.
For a province where inabel has long been woven into everyday life, the proposed holiday would make her birthday an annual reminder that preserving a craft means preserving the knowledge and identity carried through it.
Gamayo, who turned 102 this week, remains at the center of that effort—not simply as the country’s celebrated master weaver, but as a teacher whose most enduring contribution may be the people who continue the work after her.
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