Uwang Ahadas (February 15, 1945 – October 29, 2022) was a Filipino folk musician of the

Yakan people The Yakan people are among the major indigenous Filipino ethnolinguistic groups in the Sulu Archipelago. Having a significant number of followers of Islam, it is considered one of the 13 Moro people, Moro groups in the Philippines. The Yakans m ...

who was a recipient of the National Living Treasures Award.

Background

Uwang Ahadas was born on February 15, 1945. He went near blind when he was five years old. People in his community believed that this was due to retribution of nature spirits which lived in Bohe Libaken, a creek where Ahadas frequently bathed in. Ahadas along with his sibling musicians were taught how to play Yakan traditional instruments as children. He first learned how to play the gabbang, a wooden bamboo instrument similar to the

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the ...

then learned how to play the

agung The agung is a set of two wide-rimmed, vertically suspended gongs used by the Maguindanao, Maranao, Sama-Bajau and Tausug people of the Philippines as a supportive instrument in kulintang ensembles. The agung is also ubiquitous among other gr ...

an instrument traditionally played by Yakan men. By age 20, Ahadas had already mastered the kwintangan which is considered as the most important Yakan musical instrument despite the instrument being traditionally reserved for women. He could also play the tuntungan. Ahadas taught his children how to play Yakan traditional instruments, including Darna who would later become a teacher of these traditions herself. Ahadas went on to promote these traditions outside his native town of

Lamitan Lamitan, officially the City of Lamitan (Chavacano: ''Ciudad de Lamitan''; Yakan: ''Siyudad Lamitanin''; Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Lamitan''; fil, Lungsod ng Lamitan), is a 6th class component city and ''de jure'' capital of the province of Basila ...

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Re ...

. Ahadas was recognized as a National Living Treasure by the

National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...

in the year 2000. He died on October 29, 2022, at the age of 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahadas, Uwang 1945 births 2022 deaths National Living Treasures of the Philippines 20th-century Filipino musicians 21st-century Filipino musicians Filipino multi-instrumentalists Filipino traditional musicians Filipino Muslims Musicians from Basilan