METAL in the BLOOD

Tboli artist BUNDOS FARA has grabbed the brass ring with a Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan. 

- AUDREY CARPIO

BUNDOS BANSIL FARA’S WORKSHOP, found on one side of the main highway in Lake Sebu, has only a weathered tarp announcing “Brass Casting Center” to indicate his business, but you might spot Fara’s youngest son Jayson at the counter, carving up a wax mold of a mythological creature. Stacks of polished bangles and beaded gong necklaces are on display for souvenir hunters. You’ll find that they are, by any means, priced inexpensively, especially once you discover the laborious process involved in making one brass ring.

Fara is one of the three Tboli artists who were recognized as Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or National Living Treasures in December 2023. The award is given to Filipinos 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,” according to the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the body that confers this award along with a PHP200,000 cash prize, a lifetime monthly stipend of PHP50,000, and a state funeral. This is the first time a brass caster has been awarded since the GAMABA’s inception in 1992.