Benito Calingay Agbucar – Awardee 2009
A simple lackluster hand-woven basket sitting in a corner may not be as exciting as a hand-blown glass displayed on a pedestal – but by far, its uses are beyond compare.
Hand-woven baskets are a creation of skilled hands with acquired dexterity from years of enduring practice, perseverance and industry. An epitome of these virtues is a humble eighty-year old man – Benito Calingay Agbucar.
Benito was born in Apayao on January 6, 1926. He graduated from elementary in 1943. Raised in an agricultural region, he learned farming at an early age. He migrated to Carasi, Ilocos Norte after World War II and married Josefina Jose, a local of Carasi in 1949.
As Carasi is an elevated area blessed by Mother Nature with a bounty of verdant growths, among them – luxuriant palm trees and myriad species of bamboos that yield raw materials for basket weaving. With their ingenuity, locals made use of these natural resources, developing the skill of weaving baskets. Benito got interested in this handicraft and he quickly excelled in it. Before long, he started training the other members of their community to weave.
Basket weaving evolved into cottage industry becoming a source of income for the locals. Various designs of baskets proliferated into different types with specific uses – for home, fishing, agriculture, and in recent years baskets have become popular accents as interior and outdoor decorations.
As a civic minded member of the community with fervent interest in the welfare of his relatives, friends and neighbors, Benito was elected Barrio Captain in 1960. Today, he is still energetic and full of hope for the future. He continues to inspire the Carasi youth to be proud of their cultural heritage as his legacy of basket weaving lives on.
Nalabit nga saan nga makaay-ayo ti maysa a nalaga, nadirem ken kasla awan pategna nga maipaspasuli nga basket no maiyarig kadagiti napipintas a bags nga agdasar ken mailaklako kadagitoy nga pannawen; ngem kadagiti ammona ti mangbigbig, dakkel ti kaipapananna no maidilig kadagiti moderno a partuat. Naipasngay idi Enero 06, 1926, dimmakkel sadiay Apayao iti lugar a pagtatalonan, a naikaigameran ken nakasursuruanna iti panagtalon, ken isu metten ti nangileppasanna ti panagbasana iti elemetaria . Kalpasan di maikadua nga gubat ti lubong, napan nagnaed sadiay Carasi, nasarakanna ni Josefina Jose idi 1943, tubo met laeng ti ili ti Carasi, Ilocos Norte nga isu ti nagbalin nga kasimpungalanna.
Iti reggetna nga nagsursuro iti panaglaga iti basket, sagapa, silong, kuribot indayon, karatay babaen iti way ken dadduma pay nagbalin daytoy nga isu ti pagteggedanna. Ti naanus ken napasnek a im-ima a binuyugan ti kinapakumbaba, intultuloy ni Mr. Benito Calingay Agbucay ti nagpartuat kadagiti naduma-duma a disenyo ket sanayenna nga aglaga dagiti agkabannuag agingga kadagitoy .
Kas napudno a makipagnaed iti Barangay, tinarigagayanna ti agserbi iti gimong ken dagiti kalugaranna ket napili nga kas Capitan del Barrio idi tawen 1960. Nabuniagan a kas Catolico , ngem immakar iti pammati ti sekta ti Rizalista, maibilang a maysa kadagiti panglakayen a mangidadaulo.
Iti lumakayen a tawenna, mapangnamnamaan pay laeng ni Benito iti agdama para iti masanguanan. Itultuloyna ti mangisungsong kadagiti agtutubo ti Carasi tapno ituyltuloyda nga ipateg ken salakniban dagiti sursuro nga iyadalna kadakuada nga naiyadal met kenkuana dagidi umun-una nga nasken met a maiburay kadagiti sumarsaruno a kaputotan.
