Whang-ud as a brand name

Iwas in Aparri, Cagayan when Apo Whangud was brought to the Manila Fame to "perform" a tattoo demo, speak in a panel, and to attend the announcement of her nomination to the GAMABA (Gawad ng Manlilikha ng Bayan or the National Living Treasure Award), which reportedly was accepted by the NCCA last October 21 (I still have to find out!). I was also invited by the organizers to be in a panel, but declined. When I returned, I was bombarded with articles that she was “exploited” reminiscent of the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, and on the other, that she “fully enjoyed” her stay in Manila and back in Buscalan. Examining both sides of the story, I was also alarmed that I received messages on why I am I NOT doing anything despite the many accolades I received from conducting research on Kalinga tattoos (that is certainly unwarranted), but nevertheless, I am confounded. Here are some thoughts:

1. WAS SHE EXPLOITED? - Did we ever ask Apo Whang-ud directly or personally if she was indeed “exploited”? What did she think of the owing in part to my organization skills – or more aptly, the lack of it.

In The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, there is a memorable hard-hitting line: “People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them”. Sad, but true. Many opportunities pass people by, because they do not have enough faith in themselves to try and reach for their goals.

It’s been twenty years (now twenty-eight). I’m now a proud mother of three (now four), a lawyer in public service. I have written a considerable number of complaints, answers, motions, oppositions, briefs, memoranda, position papers, opinions. But I event? I have asked Apo Whang-ud many times in my previous research and many visits to the village, if she likes what she is doing, most especially with the influx of tourists coming in to get tattoos. I usually get a reply that “she loves what she is doing, and she will tattoo as much as she can, as long as her eyes can see.” She is also a good-natured person (to the point of being misled), and she would accommodate this in full-energy like what a Butbut-Kalinga woman would do. With the unfolding of events before our eyes, who are WE to deny these things to her: the opportunity to travel and to see other places (like Manila), to earn more (reportedly a take home of P800,000 for her appearance and demos, I hope she gets all of it!), and to meet people (like Coco Martin) and to ride on with each other’s popularity. Apo Whang-ud is also a human have to admit, nothing compares to the thrill of your first love. As Tim McGraw aptly described it: “Like an old photograph, time can make a feeling fade; But the memory of a first love never fades away.”

So there. I have decided to go back to my first love, probably (and with a taint of delusions of grandeur), my real calling – feature writing. I may not have the capacity to travel far like the journalist Annie Reed (Meg Ryan character) to meet Mr. Sleepless in Seattle; nor the guts of investigative reporter Josie Groucie (Drew Barrymore) who had to go through high school outcast hell all over again for a special report in the movie “Never Been Kissed”. Neither do I have the fashion sense and extreme metrosexual views of Carrie Bradshaw of “Sex in the City” fame. But it’s good to finally be able to try this out. being, already a cultural icon, some would see her as a goddess on a pedestal, but like any other person, she also has her own agency. It is “us” (our outsider’s view, our “othering”, our etic perspective) that gives this ideological interpretation that it was unfair, unjust and exploitative in nature, but did we ask her?

2. MANILA FAME EVENT? - To the organizers of the event, it is a most admirable act to bring in the centenarian Apo Whang-ud on board with all the resources and logistics all set, but I hope that you PLANNED and CURATED the show well! With the tattoo practitioners on cordon, you made them look like “public performers for a fee” (“tattoo for a fee”) which could have been more interactive, and not exclusive. We could honor Apo Whang-ud and her craft in a most respectable way and for a rare occasion such as this, a fitting tribute should be perfectly fine, moreso, to listen to Apo Whang-ud’s voice, her thoughts and her stories with the proper translation from her Butbut language to Filipino or English (most of

Is there a need to give a rundown of my seemingly shallow, juvenile accomplishments to justify this article’s publication? None, really. But bear with me, I’m just living the dream, convincing myself I deserve this much space.”

I wrote this in July of 2008, and I am re-publishing it to rekindle that exhilirating feeling of realizing that dream to have my own column in a newspaper. Eight years later I started to let go, with that lame excuse of not having enough time running an office, or something like that. I realized I shouldn’t; I realized I couldn’t. I’m still here, for the long run. And as with everything else that matters, I may not always have time, but I can make time for it. Thank you to my Sunstar family for making me realize this.

(serendipity.couch@gmail.com)