Ilocano National Living Treasure creates Marcos’ death shroud

MANILA, Philippines – National Living Treasure Magdalena Gamayo made a death shroud for the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos.

Magdalena, 93, together with other weavers in her town, Pinili, Ilocos Norte, created the shroud made of inabel, a fabric woven on traditional woodem looms by Ilocano artisans using their own techniques.

The shroud, which is 7 and a half yards of inabel, is white with flowers, and has ruffles on the sides. The flowers are significant, said Magdalena in a press release, because they mean that the person was truly valued.

“This is the first time that we have woven an inabel blanket with floral
designs as pabaon (keepsake), as the previous ones I have crafted for my loved ones that passed away were only pure white, bereft of any designs,” she was quoted as saying in a release sent by the Marcos Presidential Center. 

Magdalena, who has kept a portrait of Marcos and his wife Imelda on the wall beside her loom, said that she and her family have always been supportive of the late president. Marcos was born in Ilocos Norte and both he and Imelda represented Ilocos Norte’s second district in Congress in the past.

Magdalena was conferred the National Living Treasure honor in 2012 and she is now passing on the tradition of the Ilocano craft to her granddaughters.

Marcos’ burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) was a controversial campaign promise by President Rodrigo Duterte. He said that the dictator, who imposed martial law on the Philippines, deserves a hero’s burial because he is a soldier and a former president. 

Many have protested President Duterte’s decision, including his supporters like Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

Another one of his allies, Rafael Alunan III, brought up an agreement between the goverment and the Marcos family, made during Fidel V. Ramos’ presidency. The agreement said that Marcos was to be buried in Ilocos Norte.

On August 14, over 1,000 people protested against giving the Marcos a hero’s burial, including students, politicians, members of Catholic organizations, those who were victims of the atrocities that happened during Martial Law. – Rappler.com