by JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Salika Maguindanao, a Moro woman, wife, and mother, has known how to weave their traditional heirloom langkit pieces for so long as she can remember. As a then highschooler, she remembers sitting next to her mother, who patiently taught her how every strand and knot can make beautiful pieces.
“If you know how to weave, you will never go hungry,” was her mother’s mantra. Little did she know it would prove to be true.
In 2017, Salika was among the Moro people who were forcibly evacuated when the Marawi Siege broke out. The five-month-long siege displaced 370,000 residents, and killed more than a thousand government and rebel troops, and civilians.
The Asian Development Bank pegged the total damages and losses at $348 million. With the city’s stagnant economic progress before the siege, the ADB said it “does not have sufficient resources to overcome” the losses and that “recovery will be slow and modest without substantial assistance.”
While their reality seemed gloomy at the evacuation site, it was also where Salika co-founded the Maranao Collectible Service Cooperative, which has helped them preserve their tradition and provide a livelihood to those who lost their homes and livelihood to the Marawi Siege. As of now, there are about 80 artisans, mostly women, who are part of the cooperative.
Preserving their culture
Salika said that it is imperative for her and her family to preserve their culture and way of life, as their homes and livelihood turned to rubble during the Marawi Siege.
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