UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES—DILIMAN

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND LETTERS

DEPARTMENT OF ART STUDIES

THE LAST MAMBABATOK:

A Discourse on How Mainstream Media Can Affect the Traditional

Submitted by:

Dianne Candelario

Jessica Mara B. Mercado

Julia Eunice S. Yabes

Submitted on:

Dec. 4, 2015
I.INTRODUCTION

High in the mountains of Kalinga, in Northern Luzon, lives a group of tattoo-clad

people.

Kalinga is a province in the Cordillera region, composed of seven municipalities,

dozens of barangays and hundreds of tribes. They are known for being bold, practitioners

of headhunting. They have tattoos all over their body, believing that it possesses spiritual

powers which give them strength and protection. These tattoos are part of their culture

and traditions, symbolizing their mark in their community, a reward given to the warriors

and a marker of beauty. The Kalingas have a long tradition of tattooing, it is a traditional

art which they call Batek.

Batek used to be reserved for the fiercest men of the community, those who were

called warriors, when headhunting was still practiced and accepted. The more heads they

brought home, the more Batek they got. It was not for everyone; only those who proved

their worth were allowed to receive it. Certain designs were reserved only for the fiercest

of the fierce, the chieftains of the community. As for the women, it was a marker of beauty;

the more tattoos they had around their bodies, the more beautiful they were seen. It also

encourages fertility and serves as a part of their clothing.

II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

This study primarily aims to examine how certain words, in this case ‘last’, may

add to the discourse of dying traditions. By tagging something as the last of its kind implies

that once the practitioner eventually passes away, so does the practice.
 In the same light, this study will also assess how mainstream media (such as the

Internet, and the more popular TV networks and shows) has played a part in popularizing

and exoticizing, to some extent, the traditional tattoo practice of Kalinga, the Batek.

Various travel blogs and posts, dating from 2014 to the present, in different social media

platforms will also be reviewed.

These will be done in order to understand the current phenomena surrounding

Batek and Whang-Od.

III. THE LAST MAMBABATOK AND THE DYING OF TRADITIONS

With most documentaries and blog posts highlighting the fact that Whang-Od is

the last mambabatok, and that Batek is the only hand-tapping tattoo method found in the

Philippines, it is no wonder that people from all walks of life have started becoming

interested in the traditional tattoo practice of Kalinga. According to specialists this practice

is about a thousand years old and was used as a skin natural language transmitted from

generation to generation. Within the tribal culture the tattoo symbolizes feminine beauty

and male courage. “If you haven’t got a tattoo you aren’t a true warrior” says Whang Od.

Those who have an eagle tattooed on their chest beheaded a Japanese enemy during

the Second World War. “The tattoo before was drawn only after war and victory. It was a

culture of exchange that did not require money” (Krutak, 2010). Now, however, people

have to pay for their tattoos as they are required to start using money for things like

electricity or buying pigs and hens. It is not just the tradition of Batek that is dying, but

also the culture of the tribe, the traditions and beliefs that accompanies the practice of

tattooing.
 When the practice of headhunting was banned, the practice of Batek also

decreased. Since it was no longer highly regarded in their community, the younger

generation stopped aspiring to get one. The older generation who did have tattoos all

over their bodies were forced to cover them up as the tattoos were no longer part of their

cultural norm; it was merely a thing of the past, together with headhunting. For years,

tattoo making was not giving much of importance, but as the journalists arrive and pointed

out that Apo Whang-Od is the last mambabatok in Kalinga. These documentaries drew a

lot of attention and interest and people start to give importance in the Batek.

Whang-Od, who is now 97 years old, was not the only mambabatok of the Butbut

tribe. In fact, she recalls that there were at least 4 of them back in the days, but one by

one, they passed away, bringing their tradition with them. Currently, Whang-Od is the

oldest living mambabatok, thus giving her the unofficial title as the “Last Mambabatok”,

but she is also in the process of teaching her niece, Grace, the art of Batek in the hopes

that she will continue their tradition.

This is where the issue starts. Whenever something is described to be traditional,

there is almost always that unsaid assumption that it will, in due course, vanish and cease

to exist. Thus the need to record and document it as much as possible. Its nature to be

exotic, out of the ordinary, and its possibility of disappearing is what piqued the interest

of hordes of people, both locals and foreigners. It cannot be stressed enough that this is

what the title “Last Mambabatok” implies. It is what Whang-Od is known for, and it is what

made her famous.

From every documentary released involving the story of Whang-Od, mainstream

media always emphasize or describe Whang-Od as the last Mambabatok remaining here

in the Philippines. This research conducted how Mainstream Media and how describing

her as “Last” Mambabatok leaves impression to the people.

In this kind of era where technology became a part of people’s everyday life, the

media has many potentials. It has the possibility of spreading information to places. It has

the potential to contribute, influence and has the ability to push the ideas and culture of a

dominant interests.

Connecting to how media frames Whang-Od we can apply Anup Shah’s

Introduction to Mainstream Media, where she tried focusing on Media and Globalization,

“The phenomenon of “cultural imperialism” raises concerns in many countries where

people fear that their culture gets diluted or given a back seat to the demands of large

media and corporate interests in the name of globalization, where products and imagery,

mainly from the west, make it into the televisions and homes of people. The fear of many

people is that if people around the world are molded into model consumers, following a

western standard, then it is easier for large companies to sell their products and know

their buyer’s habits etc, while eroding local cultures and traditions. There is often

extensive debate as to how likely this will be, whether local cultures and traditions will

exert their influence on local forms of globalization, or if there will be more extremist

backlash. In different parts of the world, many of these and other reactions are already

seen.”
 Though the research done by Anup Shah cannot directly compare to Whang-Od’s

case, we can see that like what the statement means, the mainstream media has a huge

connection of cultural imperialism where Philippine Media romanticizes Whang-Od’s case

in any way possible especially since it is a nation’s identity. Something that the

Philippines can offer to attract foreigners and gain tourists to visit the country.

As the Philippine Media packaged Whang-Od as the last person to perform a dying

tradition, people tend to search for Whang-Od to see what the “dying tradition” is all about

before it actually dies. The word “last” may mean final or remaining that may give people

a huge impact where it leaves people impressions that having tattooed by the great

Whang-Od can make them a part of this almost dying tradition and having inked by

Whang-Od is a great honor for the last mambabatok’s art was stucked on their skins.

Lately, a call for Wang-Od to be a part of Philippine’s National Artist has been very

viral that it caught everyone’s attention. It started from a facebook post where a guy

named Loughrenz Aidwourd initiated a campaign for he was amazed by the remaining

person to make the craft alive. He noted that it was a “world-class contribution to the art

of tattoo making that deserves the conferment of the order” the post also noted that Wang-

Od has drawn people from the Philippines and around the world who “take pride that they

were tattooed by her”

Since Facebook is one of the most used social media by lots of people, the post

gained a widespread attention and garnered more than 10,000 shares. People tend to

put the tattoo experience on their bucket list. Wang-Od and the village gained so much

attention that even foreigners have flocked to have Wang-Od give them tattoos.
 The way this social media framed Wang-Od’s issue made the petition’s followers

grow as more Filipinos share the Facebook post. Addressing Wang-Od as one of the Last

Mambabatok gave people the urge to join the petition until it reach so many viewers inside

and outside the country that every foreigners who planned to visit the Philippines are

wanting to visit the said Kalinga tribe.

V. CONCLUSION

In conclusion to these, Mainstream Media has become so powerful that a

person’s perception of reality maybe a result of their beliefs, that in these days where

mainstream grows fast, those beliefs are somehow formed via mainstream media. Most

of the people based their views about the world, from Mainstream Media.

Indeed, in Wang-Od’s case, her reputation transcends national boundaries. Mainstream

media is one of the best way to make an issue circulates fast that Wang-Od immediately

garnered massive support in all corners of the world.