LAOAG: Dallot,” a native chant delivered during special occasions by the Ilokano community in the olden times, remains alive to this day, thanks to natives who have kept the tradition.
Adelita Romualdo Bagcal, 77, has clung on to it like a lullaby since she was a child.
In recognition of her extraordinary skill and dedication to preserve and promote this oral tradition to the younger generation, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through Proclamation No. 427 has named her a ‘Manlilikha ng Bayan’ or national living treasure.
The National Living Treasures Award is the highest state honor conferred to a Filipino in recognition of exemplary work in any form of traditional art.
Bagcal, a widow from Sitio Calao, Barangay 4 Marcos in Banna, Ilocos Norte, is a dallot master.
She is also an expert in “duayya” (Ilokano lullaby) and “dung-aw” (mourning ritual).
In an interview, Bagcal recalled accompanying her grandmother, Veronica Suguitan Urbano, when the latter would occasionally join a community of elders durin
g a traditional wedding proposal.
Part of the Ilokano ritual is for an elder to perform dallot, an improvised, versified, and impromptu long poem delivered in a chant in front of a man and woman who plan to marry, with the blessing of their parents and nearest kins.
Dallot is likewise performed during special celebrations like birthdays or feasts.
Her exposure to the oral tradition has earned her the title ‘dumadallot” or Dallot Queen of the North.
On several occasions, Bagcal would receive invitation from officials, including former First Lady and congresswoman Imelda Marcos, to perform dallot.
She said dallot comes out naturally every time she chants in public.
‘This is a golden treasure I inherited from my forefathers. I am proud of it,’ she said, adding she would gladly welcome any invitation to perform dallot in the community or even in schools in Banna for the sake of preserving the oral tradition.
Modern-day wedding preparations may no longer carry dallot as part of the ritual but Bagcal believe
s it will continue to thrive across generations for as long as people value their cultural identity.
She said she is also happy that in her town, she has trained several students of Banna National High School (BNHS), including her grandson who is now a public school teacher, Jessie Bagcal, towards the preservation of cultural heritage including dallot.
‘With tears in my eyes and joy in my heart, I salute the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan from my hometown, Banna,’ Joel Manuel, former BNHS principal and an advocate for Ilokano Literature, said during a special program for the preservation of cultural heritage among students in the province.
Through his documentation and with the help of fellow officials and members of the Gunglo Dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano or the Association of Ilokano Writers in the Philippines – Ilocos Norte who submitted the nomination to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2021, Bagcal earned the prestigious award.
Manuel said the Ilokano oral traditions have waned over the
years but with the President’s latest proclamation, it will survive the test of time.
The other eight awardees were Abina Tawide Coguit (embroiderer from La Paz, Agusan del Sur), Sakinur-ain Mugong Delasas (Sama master of traditional dance from Bongao, Tawi-Tawi) and Bundos Bansil Fara (T’boli brasscaster from Lake Sebu, South Cotabato); and artists Marife Ravidas Ganahon, Amparo Balansi Mabanag, Samporonia Pagsac Madanlo, Barbara Kibed Ofong and Rosie Godwino Sula.
Source: Philippines News Agency