SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – An association of weavers and a songwriter and composer from Antique are recipients of the 1st Gawad Balangaw (Rainbow Award) 2025, conferred by the Department of Economy, Planning and Development 6 (Western Visayas) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in a ceremony in Iloilo City on Thursday.
Antique Board Member Dante Beriong, recognized for his outstanding contribution to the culture, heritage and arts of Western Visayas, especially the Kinaray-a music, said he felt elated to be one of the first in the region to be recognized.
“I am so elated that my compositions in the local dialect Kinaray-a have been recognized as my contribution to the culture, heritage, and the arts of Western Visayas,” he said in an interview on Friday.
He said that he would like to inspire other songwriters to also write in their local dialect.
Beriong is known for his songs, such as Mauli Gid Ako sa Antique (I will go home to Antique), that invoke a feeling of deep longing for their home, the peaceful and bountiful province.
The board member also authored an ordinance for the month-long Karay-a Culture and Heritage celebration every February to promote the language, culture, and heritage of Antique by holding activities, such as song and essay writing.
Another awardee is the Bagtason Loom Weavers Association for the preservation and promotion of the traditional craft of handloom weaving as an expression of Antique’s local identity and cultural heritage.
The Bagtason Loom Weavers Association preserved the “patadyong” (handloom weaving) craft in Barangay Bagtason, Bugasong, by training housewives who are in need of a livelihood.
Its production in Bugasong has also become a training venue for loom weavers from other towns of the province.
The training on patadyong craft led to the establishment of a natural dye hub in San Remigio town by the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Textile Research Institute, so loom weavers could access their facilities.
The award was received by association chair Mario Manzano.
