KAPA MALONG MALONG

Also called Sambi sa Malong, this Maranao dance shows the

many ways of wearing a malong, a simple tubular yet highly
functional piece of cloth. The traditional womens version shows
this cloth of countless colorful designs; used mostly as a skirt,
woven in many different ways, depending on the purpose of the
wearer. Other ways the women wear malong is as a shawl, a
mantle, or a head-piece.
The malong is a traditional tube skirt made of hand-woven
(and sometimes machine-made) multi-colored cotton cloth,
bearing a variety of geometric or okir designs a term used for
geometric and flowing de-signs. The malong is akin to the
sarong worn by peo-ples of Malaysia, Brunei Darrusalam and
Indonesia. The malong is traditionally used as a garment by
numerous other tribes in the Southern Philippines and the smaller
Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.
Hand-woven malongs are made by Maranao, Maguin-danao
and Tboli weavers using a backstrap loom. The pattern or style of
the malongs they produce indicate their tribal origin, such as the
Maranao malong landap. Very rare malong designs and styles
indicate the village in which the malong was made like the
extremely intri-cate malong rawatan made only by a handful of
Mara-nao weavers in Lanao del Sur, a province in Mindanao.
Handwoven malongs, which are more costly than those made by
machines, are likely to be used only at social functions to display
the social and economic status of the wearer.
During more recent dance documentation, a mens version
was derived. This version shows in masculine rendition, how men
don the malongdisplaying its use as a sash or waist-band,
shorts or bahag, and a head-gear that can be either functional
while working in the fields, or decorative as a turban.