DESIGNS of Kalinga tattoo artist Apo Whang-od will undergo the legal process as the New Year opens.
Rocky Ngalob, National Commission for Indigenous Peoples Free Prior Informed Consent (NCIP) focal person and information officer, confirmed New Era, an international clothing line, has submitted initial papers to start the Free Prior and Informed Consent Process (FPIC).
Ngalob said the coverage of the FPIC process has yet to be determined by the Kalinga NCIP office and added New Era has initially submitted a letter of intent as well as company profile.
The NCIP has asked the company to submit more documents next year.
The agency has strict policies and regulations governing documentation and utilization of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSPs) and Customary Laws defined Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 2012 as “...systems, institutions, mechanisms, and technologies comprising a unique body of knowledge evolved through time that embody patterns of relationships between and among peoples and between peoples, their lands and resource environment, including such spheres of relationships which may include social, political, cultural, economic, religious spheres, and which are the direct outcome of the indigenous peoples, responses to certain needs consisting of adaptive mechanisms which have allowed indigenous peoples to survive and thrive within their given socio-cultural and biophysical conditions.”
Previous statements from the NCIP also reveal that if the IKSPs entail documentation and/or utilization of the same other than what it is intended purpose, may it be, for public consumption and for commerce, it requires Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). The requirement of FPIC is anchored on the basis of social justice wherein IPs, as the owners of IKSP, are entitled to be first informed of the documentation and utilization of their property (IKSP), and to give consent on whether to agree and/or reject the intended purpose of the IKSP.
The NCIP reiterates IPs are the collective owners of IKSP.
“It is without any shade of doubt that the Kalinga Battok (Wha’tok) is classified as IKSP. Therefore, any move for its utilization beyond its traditional purpose; say for example, documentation, and/or appropriation for commerce, requires FPIC.”
New Era has started the manufacture, sale and promotion of signature caps with the designs used by community elder and renowned tattoo artist from Buscalan, Maria Oggay or Whang-od to which stakeholders in the province of Kalinga moved to investigate use of traditional designs by the international brand.
Previously, New Era in a statement said the company “has always triumphed Filipino artistry and culture in many of its past and current collections. This collection is a result of close collaboration with Apo Whang-Od and a few members of her family adding every piece and design had their written and verbal approval. Apo Whang-Od was also given gratuity for her contributions to this collection.”