TATTOOING for the Indigenous people is a sign of identity, beauty and skill in warfare. In my public history talks, I emphasize the latter because each 'batek' that is given to a warrior by a 'mambabatok' (tattoo artist in modern parlance) is a sign of a victorious battle. I was criticized by a couple of anthropologists in a journal article because I did not highlight its other functions like aesthetics. They had a point, but I wanted to emphasize to my audience what I learned from Drs. Zeus Salazar and Vicente Villan, how having many batek or being a 'batikan,' denoting a skilled warrior, continues to this day when a Filipino achieves something for himself, his family, the community and the nation because of being skilled in something after much blood, sweat, toil and tears. Although I teach the importance of traditional tattooing in history, I can see how painful it was, and never in my wildest dreams did I want to get one. You see, in media and in films when I was growing up in the 1990s, there was a stigma attached to sporting tattoos because we see them in persons deprived of liberty at the National Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. If you have tattoos, people think you are an ex-convict or a substance abuser. According to Analyn V. Salvador Amores in 'Tapping Ink, Tattooing Identities,' the most comprehensive documentation of tattooing written by a Filipino scholar, traditional tattooing's significance declined because of the migration of ethnic people to the urban areas, the peace pacts among groups and the commitment to stop headhunting.But by the first two decades of the 21st century, the culture was revived by urbanized Kalingas and other Filipinos who wanted to reconnect with their roots with the rise of the internet, and the foreign tourists who had themselves tattooed and became some sort of traveling billboards for the culture. At the center of this revival is Apo Whang-Od Oggay, who is believed to be the last mambabatok of the Butbut tribe in Buscalan village, Tinglayan town in Kalinga. Since she is such a cultural icon and a national treasure in our country, of course it was my dream to meet her. I was told by Elwissa Vedan and Margaux Decripito that it would take days just to travel to her town via transport and then a very long trek to her village. But I decided to finally take the journey with May-i and her friends, teacher Ruby Bernardo and Jonathan Gonzales. We joined tour guide Paul Faustino of Aling Maliit Adventure PH in a group where I also met Jera Eviota, Francis Raymundo and others. Kuya Paul told me it was good we took the journey on a weekday rather than a weekend when hundreds of people come. Getting them was affordable and hassle-free.We left Manila on the evening of Dec. 11. Roads had improved a lot, and the 40-minute to an-hour hard trek was shortened to about 20 minutes (for a physically fit person) because of a hanging bridge installed by Sen. Robinhood Padilla. Despite this, an overweight person like me would spend more minutes and tire easily, but it is something achievable with a few stops to rest. We reached Buscalan by noontime, Dec. 12, and were welcomed by Butbut locals Ate Kumay Baon and Lars Borway.After a few minutes of sleep and rest, while our group was having lunch at 2 p.m., Paul pointed me to another house and there got my first glimpse of the great mambabatok enjoying her lunch break. Fortunately, we are the only group left that she would meet.I would have wanted only a photo and some magazines and items signed with three dots (which signified three generations of tattoo artists from her, the passing of the torch), but in the end, I was convinced by Paul and May-i that I could actually bear it. And so, I did. Maybe I was just pig-skinned or Apo is so skilled, 'magaan ang kamay,' I did not feel much pain. The three dots took only three minutes, but she felt she had to repeat the procedure! She used to do the harder, meaningful designs but she lets the younger ones do it now, empowering them as well. The whole experience was 'bayanihan,' a whole community empowered.In the evening, we enjoyed a few minutes of bonfire with Apo, where I showed her my 'Xiao Time' video of her, which made her teary-eyed seeing photos of her friends from Ikin Amores' book. The next day, May-i had her tattoos done by Beverly Borway of Bevs Whato' before leaving the village. I couldn't believe we were going down now as 'batikan.'Whang-Od was refused the state title she deserved, a Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan. But it can be said she is also more than that. She is the people's champ. Her efforts led to the kaginhawahan of a whole small village. She also shared her culture with ordinary Filipinos. She is but a symbol of a whole people's tradition, talent and determination to shine in the world while fighting for one's own rights and identity.The spirit of being 'batikan' and 'kabayanihan' are closely connected because one offers their skills to the 'kaginhawahan' of their 'kapwa' and 'bayan.'Early morning, we were already in Banaue, Ifugao. Unfortunately, the fog prevented us from seeing the famous rice terraces, the so-called eighth wonder of the world, because of the fog, but there were many of them along the zigzag way.
