The country honored Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan Frederico “Tuohan” Caballero with a state funeral and full military honors at his hometown in Calinog, Iloilo on September 3, 2024 on the day of his burial. The date was also declared by Malacañang Palace as the Day of Mourning. As provided by law, the national flag shall be flown at half-fast from sunrise to sunset on all government buildings and installations throughout the Philippines and abroad.
This followed the wake from August 21-September 2, 2023 and the conduct of Panay Bukidnon funerary rituals on September 1. Caballero died on August 17 at the age of 87.
The funeral honors featured messages from President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Sen. Loren Legarda, NCCA Chairman Victorino Mapa Manalo, NCCA Commissioner Reden Ulo, former NCCA Chair Dr. Felipe de Leon Jr., Governor Arthur Defensor, Mayor Francisco Calvo, anthropologist Dr. Alicia Magos, and GAMABA Coordinator Ms. Merly Delfin – which were either personally delivered or read by their respective representatives.
The state event organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts also brought together four Manlilikha ng Bayan (MB) or National Living Treasures from Luzon and Mindanao. They are MB Teofilo Garcia, MB Estelita Bantilan, MB Adelita Romualdo Bagcal, and MB Rosie Sula.
Caballero was awarded Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan for the year 2000. The Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or National Living Treasure Award is the highest state recognition for traditional folk artists, equivalent in rank to the Order of National Artists. On the same year that he was awarded this recognition, Caballero with the support of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Center for West Visayan Studies, opened the Balay Turun-an or School for Living Traditions in Garangan, Calinog, Iloilo to teach epic chanting and other cultural traditions to young Panay Bukidnon children.
Caballero was the only Gawad Manililikha ng Bayan from the Visayas to date. He was awarded for Chanting the 10 Suguidanon Epics of Panay in 13 volumes, which were researched by a team from UPV headed by Dr. Alicia P. Magos and her Associate Researcher Anna Razel Limoso-Ramirez starting in 1993. These epics were transcribed and translated in Contemporary Kinaray-a, Filipino, and English for publications at the University of the Philippines Press in 2013. The preparations of these manuscripts were done with a research grant from UPV under Chancellor Rommel Espinosa and the UP System under President Alfredo Pascual.
In his foreword in the Epics of Panay, Caballero traced his ancestors who were epic chanters. “Laking Unob is known as a manughusay (arbiter). Next is Anggoy Opin (Opiniana), who is also an arbiter; Anggoy Irak (Sirakan) is a babaylan and binukot (kept maiden). Owaw Omil (Omiliana) is the daughter of Amang Tulin. Next in the linukdo is Hugan-an (Narsisa), my mother's aunt, who adopted her when she was orphaned as a baby. My mother's name is Anggoran (Preciosa). I learned epic chanting from them through constant listening, especially from Anggoy Omil, my owaw (great grandmother), who lulled me to sleep. Eventually, I memorized them all, starting from the first epic, Tikum Kadlum, up to the tenth epic, Nagbuhis. All of my elders are shaman or bailan-curers, binukot or kept maidens, and manughusay (arbiters). All of them are epic chanters too—for such is the skill of my lineage,” he wrote.
Federico or Tuohan (someone who is respected and believed) is also known as manughusay (arbiter or mediator) in the Panay Bukidnon communities of Calinog, Iloilo, and Tapaz, Capiz. He is survived by his wife Lucia, who is a known cultural bearer for musical instruments and embroidery, and children, Rowena and Nancy.
