IN Mankayan, preservation traditional gong making continues.
President of the senior citizen’s association, Rudolfo Monte is one of the last gong makers in Sitio Proper Bedbed with elder, Hildo Galino, a pioneer gong maker will be passing on the skill to 18 trainees comprised mostly of out-of-school youth and children in a series of workshops from January 23 to February 2, under the local School of Living Tradition.
The project is done in partnership with the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) with a funding of P500,000.
Galino said the best gongs are made in Bedbed trademarked with quality and a distinct sound with the traditional musical instruments made of quality brass.
Elders say the craft started when Chinese descents came bringing metal and agricultural tools, while other stories say after the World War II, old folks found empty shields of Canyon and discovered it can be made into gongs; the instrument has since been utilized during celebrations and rituals.
Benguet Provincial Tourism Officer Claire Prudencio said Barangay Bedbed currently supplies the needs for gongs in the region and in other parts in Northern Luzon.
The Bedbed gansa will take at least a month to complete and orders have come in from as far as Bontoc and Sadanga in the Mt. Province, the Quirino province and Tabuk city, the giant gong measuring six feet in diameter currently in Kalinga was crafted by local gong maker, Marvin Galino Onio.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Benguet director Freda Gawisan said the gong making in the province entails development and is urging to register the craft in the Intellectual Property Office.
"As makers of this product, we are even insinuating that there is a possibility that this will be registered product with intellectual property office for them to have an ownership made in Bedbed," Gawisan added.