Marie posted her experience when she went up to Buscalan Village in the mountain province to get a tattoo from Whang Od. For those who do not know, Whang Od is 92 years old and she is the last Kalinga tattoo maker, according to specialists this practice is about a thousand years old. Getting a tattoo from her shows that you value tradition or their tribes culture. Though, it is not that case anymore according to Marie.
Photo from Christopher Newsom
Whang Od has become a sensation and people from all walks of life come to get a tattoo from her. She says that tour guides exploit Whang Od, tourists were not disciplined, hundreds line up to get a tattoo from Whang Od and she feels that she will die of exhaustion from this as she cannot even take a good break to eat her meal.
KALINGA BROTHERS and SISTERS. A CALL TO STOP THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF OUR CULTURE…MY STORY BEHIND THE “WHANG OD SENSATION…My husband n I recently came from buscalan tinglayan to experience the uniqueness of cordilleran culture and express our love for it. We were wishing to have our tattoos for us to promote love for indigenous culture, as we have been doing for the past years. But to our dismay, the 3-day experience angered us as we have witnessed a desecration of culture.
The famous “whang od” legend as we have known it has been corrupted both by villagers and tourists. These are our experiences:
1. One should bring thousands of pesos when going there because everything has a high tag–p1,000/day for a tour guide but u need to stay there for at least 2 nights so minimum of p2,000; p300/person/night accommodation; meals paid to your host depending on what you want to eat; tattoo minimum of p500 for the smallest size—mine cost p8,000 for half an arm. P50 per “tinik” to be used for tattooing. Altogether we spent around p18,000 for the 3 day stay plus diesel. We needed to stay for 3 days because of the line of people to be tattooed.
Next issue: villagers who became tour guides are fighting over tourists, fighting over priority lines for their clients to be tattooed. We really felt greed among them. They all depend on this as their main income. When whang od dies (god forbid), they will all loose jobs. Next: the number of tourists is uncontrollable. People flock around whang od, fight for their turn to be tattooed, take pictures with whang od…sometimes leaving whang od with little air. When we were there, she and grace, her grand daughter, were exhausted for weeks of tattooing hundreds of visitors. They could not stop as the tour guides keep insisting that their guests have to have tattoos. Both of them could not even get a decent time to eat. I never saw anyone offer them meals or snacks and stopped them to rest.
Next: tattoos had no more meaning..these became just plain tattoos. Designs were drawn on a piece of wood and people just chose what tattoo they want. There were no descriptions. After being tattooed, whang od would inform the guest of the price for the tattoo and collects the payment…now this was the point for me to really get so bothered. I realized…CULTURE is now FOR SALE!!! I wanted to cry at that point.
Next: most of the tourists lacked discipline entering the village. Ladies came in their “pekpek” shorts, sexy outfits, etc. i saw a young couple having sex in the room just above the tattooing area!!! We met young groups who had marijuana during their stay. Trash all over the place. Children asking money or candy from tourists. Oh my!!! It was all a circus!!! The biggest issue…whang od is no doubt old…what could happen if these uncontrollable situations continue? Before we left the guides said that buses of tourists have booked for the long vacation because of the APEC summit. How i wish i could protest at that instant. How could they not realize what they are doing to whang od and to their village. I am sorry to say but whang od will not die of old age…she will die of exhaustion. As for me, i had my tattoo in protest of all of these. One young tourist asked me…”trip niyo po talagang magpatattoo?” I got insulted really…so j replied “no…not at all. But I am doing this to show love and advocacy for the passing of tradition. I love my country and i walk my talk.”
PLEASE…HELP ME IN THIS ADVOCACY… WHANG OD IS BECOMING AN ILLUSION, A DUMMY OF COMMERCIALIZATION. SHe SHOULD BE A LEGACY OF THE BEAUTY OF OUR CULTURE. Please pass if you support this advocacy.
What do you think of this? Has it really turned out to be this way?
The local government should act on this! Such a shame for a national artist to be exploited and a tradition turned into just a ” fad”!
First, her physical security should be protected by the local law enforcement if not by the community itself.
Second, as mentioned her health and immunity is at risk! Strict working hours should be posted and followed to give her enough rest and quality time for her family and self.
Third, are those “inns” regulated? Is there enough sanitary resources provided? If the local public health agency does not step in, the congestion and unsanitary practices will lead to disease outbreaks! Intestinal parasitism, pulmonary diseases, skin diseases, GIT diseases….
Fourth, there should be a lecture or mini video session for the tattoo candidates to go through before meeting Whang Od to be educated on her work and the culture and tradition of her art of tattooing! That would increase the sense of value and satisfaction they will get from the tattoo and not just an ” ink”!
I am sure there are more suggestions and places to improve on this but ultimately respect and consideration should prevail!
PS: tourism is only as good as its product
it would have been cheaper if you decided to immerse yourself with the tribe. we stayed there for 3 days and only spent 800,including getting a tattoo for300, in which she was the one who chose what the design would be.
if you went up and longed for “culture” you should have blend with the locals. and not act as a “tourist” there’s a big difference between the 2.. just saying
97 inde 92
This is so true people no heart anymore they want money money money…..NO respect and greedy…
You should have posted a picture for us to see how worse it is. Please edit and post the pics. Blur if needed.