At President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA) today, Vice President Sara Duterte showed up donning a borrowed Bagobo Tagabawa dress.
Prior to SONA, the Vice President’s spokesperson, legal counsel Reynold Munsayac, revealed that she would be borrowing the traditional Bagobo Tagabawa dress from Davao City’s Tagabawa tribe’s deputy mayor, Bae Sheirelle Anino, due to time restraints. It takes over a month to make the entire traditional dress.
The traditional abaca textile made by the Bagobo is known as Inabal, and it is woven in a unique way. These are created into designs for women’s clothing called Kinatkat or Ine. The Ikat-style textiles that are typically worn as clothing are colored using natural and vegetable dyes.