A Contextual Commentary on the Philippine Audiovisual Documentaries of Robert Garfias

In 1966, Robert Garfi as came to the Philippines and documented traditional musical cultures from the North to the Southern islands of the entire archipelago.It was a rather comprehensive coverage of the different major language groups, from the Ilokanos of the North, and the Ibaloi, the Kalinga, and the Tinguian from the Cordillera mountain region to the lumads or highland groups of the Bagobo, Manobo, and the Tiruray, and the Islamic communities both from the lowland -the Maguindanao and the Maranao -and the insular communities of the Badjao, Samal and the Tausug.The collected data was considerable in that it included both instrumental and vocal music, as well as dance.The fi lms were shot between February and April, which attests to an intensive fi eld work and documentation during those months.It was also in April 12-16 of 1966