60 crafts · 13 peoples
Living Crafts
of the Bangsamoro
What the region weaves, casts and carves: where each piece is made, who still makes it, and where a visitor can watch it made or buy it from the hands that made it.
From the Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage
Pusaka
Embodying Prestige of the BARMM’s Cultural Properties
The commission’s own coffee-table book of the region’s heritage, province by province: 78 cultural items, from the inaul and the brassware of Maguindanao to the okir and torogan of Lanao, Yakan tennun, and the tepo mats and boats of Tawi-Tawi.
- cultural items
- 78 cultural items
- provinces
- 5 provinces
- pages
- 118 pages
Posted by the commission in February 2025, it still includes Sulu, which the Supreme Court ruled out of BARMM in 2024. For children, the commission also publishes Landung, a colouring book of the same heritage.
Textiles
Dress
Mats
Basketry
Brass
Pottery
Instruments
Carving
Ornaments
Blades
Boats
Where they are made
Each dot is a town a source names; the larger, the more crafts made there. A faint dot holds the crafts whose town no source names, on their province.
Pick a dot, or a town below.
Lanao del Sur
Malong a landap, Langkit, Maranao brass urn, Kulintang, Agung, Dabakan drum, Okir woodcarving and inlaid chests, Kris sword
Lanao del Sur
Maguindanao del Norte
Cotabato City
Maguindanao del Sur
Maguindanao del Sur
Maguindanao del Norte
Basilan
Tawi-Tawi
Tawi-Tawi
Lanao del Sur
Tawi-Tawi
Maguindanao del Norte
Maguindanao del Sur
Town not named
Maranao betel box, Sarimanok, Kampilan, Gunong, Igaan, Mamaan, Mamandiyang, Satora, Glat, Lakub, Maranao mat, Malong a andon
Town not named
Sipil, Patakiya, Dudan, Langgaman, Sayap and buyang, Tudong, Binangga, Sundang, Binuwaya, Babendil, Obul-obul, Tubao headcloth
Town not named
Tanyak-tanyak, Yakan wedding dress, Yakan dress, Kulaing, Gabbang, Suling, Barung, Punyal, Pira
Town not named
Bangka-bangka, Dulang and latal, Habol tiyahian, Tutup, Kumpit, Qur’an lihal, Sablay and sawwal, Sambra, Badju’ Sama
Town not named
Where to buy
Fairs, centres and shops where these crafts are sold, each as dated as its source. Check before you travel.
Bangsamoro Ramadhan Trade Fair
Bangsamoro Government Center, Cotabato City
MTIT's annual month-long fair runs through Ramadhan (the 2026 edition opened on 16 February with 60 MSMEs); it sells mostly halal food but also handcrafted items and gift items, though no specific crafts are named.
Crafts of many kinds
Source, February 2026Shariff Kabunsuan Festival Agri-Trade Fair
Bangsamoro Government Center, Cotabato City
A 3-day fair held in mid-December during the Shariff Kabunsuan Festival (16–18 December in 2024), where 20 cooperatives sold local products including cultural attire.
Crafts of many kinds
Source, December 2024Lami-Lamihan Festival Tourism Trade Fair and Gallery Walk
Barangay Malinis, Lamitan City, Basilan
MTIT-Basilan's trade fair for local producers and artisans, held during Lamitan's late-June Lami-Lamihan Festival (opened 22 June 2026); no specific crafts are listed.
Crafts of many kinds
Source, June 2026Badjao weaving community (Badjao Village)
Bongao, Tawi-Tawi
A stilt village where Sama/Badjao women weave colourful pandan tepo mats and sell them to visitors.
Source, March 2025Inaul Expo at the Inaul Festival
Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur
During the festival, held each February in Buluan since 2017, inaul from several towns is shown and sold, along with shawls, headscarves and bags; the sources date from before Maguindanao was split, and no edition after 2019 is confirmed here.
Source, March 2019Provincial Women Center (inaul weaving section)
Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur
A centre run by the provincial government where a women's group weaves, manages and exhibits inaul products; the source predates the 2022 split of Maguindanao, so its current status is unconfirmed.
Source, February 2018GAMABA Weaving Center and Ambalang Museum
Lamitan City, Basilan
A School of Living Tradition linked to master weaver Ambalang Ausalin, where weavers quoted a visitor a price for a tennun piece; a weaving centre and museum under this name were inaugurated in June 2024.
Source, November 2021Datu Dizal Cultural Center
Lamitan City, Basilan
Lamitan named Yakan fabric its One Town, One Product, and the city set up this centre to house the weaving industry (2013 source, current status unconfirmed).
Source, August 2013Maranao Collectible Service Cooperative (Maranao Collectibles)
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur
A cooperative of about 80 mostly women artisans formed after the 2017 siege, which sells langkit by the metre, takes orders and works with distributors.
Source, October 2022MSU-Marawi Pasalubong Center
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur
Stocks The Meranaw Hijab collections, including one inspired by langkit; it is the only crafts-adjacent stock confirmed, so other Meranaw crafts are unverified.
Crafts of many kinds
Source, December 2024Ayuda Badjao Project
Maasin, Zamboanga City (outside BARMM)
a livelihood project for Badjao families, founded in 2000, that sells the women's tepo mats as souvenirs.
Source, October 2014Yuchengco Museum shop (online)
Makati City (outside BARMM)
a museum shop selling Yakan table runners described as woven by Yakan in Basilan and Zamboanga.
Source, October 2026Yakan Weaving Village (Yakan Village Weaving Center)
Upper Calarian, Zamboanga City (outside BARMM)
a 1974 settlement of Yakan families from Basilan with about ten or more shops selling woven polos, bags and pouches; a 2013 blog (pinasmuna.com) says Lamitan-made fabric is shipped here for sale.
Source, April 2024
When to go
The festivals where these crafts are shown, worn and sold.
February
Inaul Festival
Buluan, Maguindanao del Sur
Started in 2017 to promote inaul; features the Kapaginaul weaving competition, inaul gowns, a search for the oldest inaul and a trade expo. Reporting found covers 2017–2019.
SourceJune
Lami-Lamihan Festival
Lamitan City, Basilan
Opens on June 26 at the Datu Kalun Shrine; a celebration of Yakan culture with a parade in hand-woven Yakan attire. 2025 was its 42nd year.
SourceDecember
Shariff Kabunsuan Festival
Cotabato City
Mid-December; highlight is the Guinakit fluvial parade on December 19 along the Rio Grande de Mindanao, with ornately adorned boats once used by royal families.
SourceAugust
Langkit Festival
Marawi City, Lanao del Sur
Week-long city charter celebration named after the langkit, with barangay booths, kulintang playing and a langkit competition.
SourceApril
Okir Art Exhibit
Cagayan de Oro (outside BARMM)
BARMM trade ministry exhibit of Maranao baul, tapestries, paintings and okir jewellery; held in April 2024.
SourceOctober
National Arts and Crafts Fair
SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City (outside BARMM)
National crafts fair where a pandan mat weaver from Mapun, Tawi-Tawi, wove at her booth in 2025.
Source
Help for makers
What the region’s offices list for the people who weave, cast and carve: teaching, registering a workshop, better tools, a table at a fair.
- School of Living TraditionsWhere masters teach the young a craft that is fading.BCPCH
- Cultural MappingThe commission’s record of a town’s heritage, crafts among it.BCPCH
- Barangay Micro Business Enterprise (BMBE) registration assistanceRegisters a small workshop, which brings tax relief.MTIT
- Community-based tourism supportFor a weaving village or a brass town that takes visitors.MTIT
- Conduct of Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) for MSMEs UpgradingA look at a workshop’s tools and process, the first step to new equipment.MOST
- Request to Join Promotional Events as ExhibitorA place for a maker’s table at the ministry’s fairs.MOST
- Market Development (buyer and seller matching, trade fairs)Buyer matching and fair space, for crafts from farm materials such as pandan and rattan.MAFAR
A craft we have missed?
Or a maker, a shop, a price or a photo of your own. Send it with a source; it is checked before it goes up, and credited to you if you like.
Every fact here is linked to the page it came from. Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licences, or from the commission’s book Pusaka, which its site places in the public domain; each is credited on the photo. Items cited to Pusaka come from the book, by page.
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