Whang-od

Whang-od Oggay, also called Maria Oggay, was born on February 17, 1917, in the village of Buscalan, part of Tinglayan in the Philippine province of Kalinga. She belongs to the Butbut people, a subgroup of the larger Kalinga ethnic group, and is widely known as the last and oldest living *mambabatok*, or traditional Kalinga tattooist.

She learned the art of *batok*—hand-tapped tattooing—from her father, a master tattooist, starting at age 15. Traditionally, only men from families with a tattooing lineage could practice, but her father made an exception because of her talent. Later in life, Whang-od chose only women as her apprentices, breaking this patrimonial tradition for the first time in recorded Kalinga history, a decision accepted by her community. She originally tattooed Butbut warriors, who earned their markings through acts like protecting villages or killing enemies, and also tattooed women of the Butbut people for aesthetic reasons. Her work once included fortune telling and chanting, but she no longer chants for tourists, reserving those rituals for Kalinga women’s beautification and men’s victory celebrations. Each design carries symbolic meaning; for example, a warrior who killed an enemy received an eagle tattoo.

Whang-od received her first tattoos as a teenager: a ladder and a python. The python scale design holds special significance in her people’s sacred stories, said to have been first given to a noblewoman named Lagkunawa by the hero-god Banna. Tattooing women, called *fatok*, was a mark of beauty and wealth, and families would pay the artist with a piglet or a bundle of rice. Tattooing male warriors, called *fi-ing*, was practiced on their chests and arms until government discouragement of headhunting ended it in 1972. Since then, Whang-od has applied *batok* to tourists visiting Buscalan. Her notable customers include Rhian Ramos, Drew Arellano, Liza Diño, and Ice Seguerra.

Her early work earned no income, but by 2015, the influx of tourists brought her at least 5,000 Philippine pesos per day, with 20 to 30 customers daily. Due to her advanced age, she now only does simple tattoos. Her apprentices, all women, continue the tradition. The ink she uses is made from charcoal and water, tapped into the skin with a thorn from a calamansi or pomelo tree—a technique dating back a thousand years. Her designs draw from nature and basic geometric shapes. Since 2017, her signature tattoo has been three dots, representing herself and her two apprentices as a continuation of the art form.

Beyond tattooing, Whang-od is a respected village elder, plays the nose flute, and performs agricultural tasks like feeding animals and cultivating rice. She does not speak Filipino or English, communicating only in Kalinga and Ilocano. Tourists must undertake a long journey to reach her: from Manila, a bus to Baguio (4–6 hours), another to Bontoc (4–6 hours), then local transport up the mountains, followed by a 2–3 hour hike with a guide.

In 2017, she was nominated for the National Living Treasures Award (Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan), a nomination still being processed by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). In 2018, the NCCA awarded her the Dangal ng Haraya Award in Tabuk, the capital of Kalinga province. In April 2023, at age 106, she appeared on the cover of Vogue Philippines’ Beauty Issue, becoming the oldest living person ever to grace a Vogue cover.