Rosie Godwino Sula (Boi Rosie G Sula)

Fr Francisco R Demetrio SJ Award
For outstanding contribution to culture and the arts

At five years old, Boi Rosie Godwino Sula was already learning the traditions that would shape the course of her life.

Reflecting on her childhood, she shares: “At 5 years old, I learned from my father chanting, storytelling, playing the hegelung and dances, and from my mother, Boi Mingga Ungkal Godwino, skills in blouse making, embroidery, and other art forms.”

Born on 12 May 1968, in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, Boi Rosie grew up in the respected Godwino clan, a family deeply rooted in the cultural life of the T’boli people. Guided by her father, the late Datu Anthony Futon Godwino, and inspired by her mother, the late Boi Mingga Kebing Ungkal Godwino, she learned early that culture is not merely inherited—it is nurtured, practiced, and passed on.

An academic scholar from Notre Dame of Marbel University, Boi Rosie became a teacher at Santa Cruz Mission School and served communities in remote areas. For her, education and cultural preservation have always gone hand in hand, ensuring that future generations know who they are and where they come from. This conviction led her to establish the School of Indigenous Knowledge and Traditions in Gono Hofo, Lake Sebu.

Known in her community as Boi Rosie, Boi meaning “lady” or “princess” in T’boli culture, and by her T’boli name Boi Lemingon, she has become one of the country’s most respected cultural bearers. A master chanter, musician, composer, dancer, educator, and cultural advocate, she has devoted her life to preserving the T’boli lingon tradition, including the epic chant Tudbulul, a treasured expression of T’boli identity and worldview.

In 2023, she was conferred the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) or National Living Treasures Award, the highest recognition bestowed by the Philippine government on traditional artists and cultural practitioners for their outstanding contributions to the nation’s intangible cultural heritage.

For Commissioner Reden S Ulo, T’boli cultural leader and Head of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts, Boi Rosie represents far more than individual achievement:

“MB Rosie Sula is not just a GAMABA but a steward of Filipino identity and T’boli heritage. She’s a living heritage of Filipino culture and the representation of the T’boli identity, culture and heritage.”

Her leadership likewise extends to the empowerment of women. Through Libun Hulung Matul, the collective she founded for T’boli women weavers, dancers, chanters, and cultural workers, she has helped women strengthen their skills, celebrate their identity, and assume leadership roles within their communities.

Yet perhaps her greatest legacy remains her commitment to teaching. To this day, she teaches at Santa Cruz Mission School and conducts weekend chanting classes for Indigenous youth in her father’s hometown of Canahay, Surallah, South Cotabato, providing school supplies and feeding programs for her students.

Reflecting on this mission, Boi Rosie shares: “I continue to revive and restore T’boli culture in Canahay, Surallah, where it was slowly vanishing. Before my father passed away, he entrusted me with one final wish—that I teach there and help restore and preserve our T’boli culture.”

Asked if she intends to continue this work, she answers simply: “Yes, I’m still doing it, and never stop doing it, as long as I live.”

Through her leadership and unwavering dedication to teaching, Boi Rosie has done more than preserve a tradition. She has honored a sacred inheritance and ensured that the memory, identity, and heritage of her people continue to live on in future generations.

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In sincere recognition of her lifelong commitment to safeguarding T’boli identity, nurturing future generations through education, empowering indigenous women, and faithfully passing on the chants, stories, values, and living traditions of her people, Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan is pleased and deeply honored to confer upon Boi Rosie Godwino Sula the Fr Francisco R Demetrio SJ Award for Outstanding Contribution to Culture and the Arts during its 87th Commencement Exercises.