Tabuk City, Kalinga – The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) assured the country’s oldest tattoo artist, Apo Whang-Od, and the Buscalan Community assistance should they pursue legal action after releasing investigation results on the supposed contract signing between Whang-od and Nas Daily’s online learning platform.
Onsite investigation on August 17 by NCIP-CAR led by Regional Director Atty. Marlon Bosantog revealed that Whang-od did not consent to teach tattooing on Nas Academy's online platform and that she did not affix her thumb mark in any contract for this account.
"No provision of the contract was explained or discussed to her, or to her representative, or what was assured of her is external to the terms of the contract,” the investigation further disclosed.
NCIP-CAR even mentioned that the contract is ‘grossly onerous’ as its content states that ‘the Nas Academy has exclusive ownership of any content that the show would produce including the likeness, image, voice, etc. of Apo Whang-od and such ownership is in perpetuity, inclusive of the right alteration and the right to assign and transfer the same without consent.
Furthermore, the law of Singapore shall govern the said contract.’
Stella Palangdao, the representative of Whang-od, also told NCIP that no explanations were made regarding the provisions of the contract and that they were only made to sign the contract of filming, interview, photography, and the release of these.
Apart from these, the validation team found out ‘apparent disparity’ after comparison was made on the thumb mark affixed by Apo Whang-od in the contract and to the one she affixed in a clean piece of paper.
Moreover, the community elders, according to NCIP, believe that teaching the art of traditional tattooing on an open platform that can be accessed by millions of people worldwide would render it generic and "thus, it would lose its authenticity and cultural meaning."
According to elders, this would also discourage the next generation to learn and carry on with the tradition and could lead to the demise of the culture-driven tourism industry.
With said results, NCIP-CAR recommended that proponents or researchers should notify concerned agencies (NCIP, LGU) before the conduct of any activity within the ancestral domain.
Visitors dealing with Whang-od, they said, must also be “culturally sensitive and shall also exert proper and due diligence considering her stature as a culture bearer of the community."
The Philippine law, particularly the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act, provides that an entire community's permission through the process of acquiring Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) must be done should an endeavour involving indigenous systems and knowledge is planned.
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