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| Photo Courtesy || Department of Tourism |
Cordillera - New York-based travel magazine Travel And Leisure had listed Apo Whang-od as one of the great Filipino personalities who are transforming the country through sustainable tourism.
The magazine has partnered with the Department of Tourism to feature Filipinos who are making big differences in their community through thoughtful and sustainable tourism.
Among them was Apo Whang-od Oggay, also known as Maria Oggay, the last and oldest mambabatok from Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga.
"At 103 years old, Apo Whang-od - member of an indigenous group that inhabits the mountains above the Chico River - is a living treasure of Kalinga, Province. Whang-od inked her first design at the tender age of 15, and nearly a century later, she's still giving charcoal-ink tattoos to visitors in her tiny village of Buscalan, using the thorn of a calamansi tree to draw intricate patterns, She's also looking to the future, training locals to carry on Kalinga tattooing traditions." reports Travel + Leisure website.
In 2018, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) had conferred to Apo Whang-od the prestigious Dangal ng Haraya Award at Tabuk City.
Whang-od was nominated for the National Living Treasures Award (Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan) in 2017.
Up to this day, Whang-od is still giving tattoo sessions to local and international tourists who come to visit her at her place in Buscalan.
