THE De La Salle University Harlequin Theatre Guild (DLSU-HTG) is set to re-run the first musical play inspired by the life of Apo Whang Od Oggay—the revered manwatok (tattooist) of Kalinga on November at the Teresa Yuchengco Auditorium, De La Salle.
Written by Em Mendez and Raffy Tejada, “Ang Huling Mambabatok” was first performed last August 10 and 14, 2018. The play narrates the story of traveling back in time to meet the young Whang Od discovering her roots.
It explores Kalinga from a hundred years past, up to the early traditions and rituals of Northern Luzon which molded Whang Od to be the manbatok everyone knows today. HTG will also feature Whang Od’s personal moments: the struggle of choosing between romantic love and the destiny offered to her. Furthermore, this will also mirror the drastic changes in tradition of the art of tattooing served either as a reward or an honor to warriors, and now, as part of the Filipino culture.
Apo Whang Od has long been recognized and respected in her community as a master tattooist. Her practice started in her early adolescence and has since tattooed elders, women, and warriors from her community in the traditional Kalinga practice – using charcoal as ink and calamansi/suha thorns to puncture the skin.
Local and international tourists flock her abode in Buscalan to get inked with traditional Kalinga designs, her signature linear three-dot design, and witness the outstanding whatok techniques which she is actively passing on to the younger Kalingan women.
HTG takes pride in both Whang od and of the play, saying that the production “...did not only seek to honor Whang Od: the legend who has preserved indigenous culture and art, but also made her known as Whang Od, the Filipina who has lived a life full of dreams.”
Whang Od was recently awarded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) led by its chairman, National Artist Virgilio S. Almario the esteemed 2018 Dangal ng Haraya Award for Intangible Cultural Heritage in a ceremony in Kalinga Capitol Plaza, Tabuk, Kalinga on June 25, 2018.
In the resolution signed by NCCA chairman Almario, the Commission recognizes Whang Od “as a living vessel of a traditional practice, [who] deserves honor and acknowledgement for her contributions, particularly by bringing to greater attention the indigenous practice of tattooing and Filipino culture in general.”