Dayaw Season 2, conceptualized and hosted by Senator Loren Legarda, and produced by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), is a six-part, 30-minute weekly documentary series that focuses on the preservation of the country’s culture and heritage.

Episode 5 looks into the rich collection of gold jewelry from various places in the country that are now kept in museums. The intricate design in each piece of jewelry reveals the exacting technical skill and extensive knowledge possessed by Filipinos to process and melt the raw gold and fashion it into ornaments.

The episode also explores the historical and cultural importance of gold in Ivatan life. It also features Whang-Od, the famous mambabatok or tattoo artist from Kalinga, and how she negotiates the fine line between tradition and commercialization.

A Continuing exploration of cultures and people we share this country with.

Colorful encounters with Filipinos who can, if we let them, enrich our own world views, our knowledge of ourselves.

Nourishing, sheltering, healing, adorning.

Celebrating the manifold ways of being Filipino.

The desire to look good, to celebrate our bodies, to proclaim our status through what we wear is not exactly just modern vanity.

In fact, I'd like to think it links us to our ancestors, to our indigenous people, to all humanity.

The Ayala Museum's collection of Philippine pre-Hispanic gold jewelry is an amazing testament to the creativity, technical skill, and exacting aesthetic of our forefathers.

From earrings and pendants, to rings and necklaces, from heavy bracelets and woven and braided gold wire belts, to haunting and evocative death masks that would announce the wearer's status in the afterlife and in centuries to come.

The examples in the Ayala Museum and in other established collections come from Butuan and Laguna, Panay and Samar, Leyte and Pangasinan, from Bicol and the Cordilleras, locations that map out an archipelago rich in the traditions of personal adornment.

The first Spanish explorers in the Philippines reported that the wealthy and powerful leaders they encountered wore much gold jewelry and adornment.

These ornaments were amazing not only because of their quantity but because they were proof of an extensive knowledge of mining or panning for gold.

But beyond mining and panning, it took exacting technical skill and knowledge to be able to process and melt the raw gold and fashion it into ornaments.

Beating the gold into thin sheets and embossing it with raised designs was 1 common technique.

Another technique involved coiling and weaving gold wire into a fine mesh for necklaces or belts.

More complex techniques were employed in the creation of beads.

The lost wax technique, which survives today among the Tioli, Bagobo, and the Maranao, was used to create a multitude of bead designs.

Evidence of an advanced technical skill can be seen in the minute, interlocking gear beads, In the variety of bead shapes, from the conical to oblong to the multifaceted, or the use of minute beads to race patterns and designs on a flat surface.

There was gold to adorn the body, to cover the face in depth.

More than just objects of great beauty and historical value, What stories do these gold ornaments tell us?

The narrative begins in a land rich in mineral and precious metals.

It continues with a people who developed the technical skill to extract and process this resource, and continues with skilled craftsmen who could both design and execute.

Batanas is known for the breathtaking vistas, the dramatic juxtaposition of mountain ranges and fast stretches of ocean.

For a people, the Ivatan, their resilience, frugality and stoicism.

There is another side to the ibatan, a side that admires and values the beauty of gold.

The material has never been plentiful in Batanes.

So the very rarity of the material, its value as an heirloom and as a way of connecting to the Ibatan ancestors makes each piece of traditional jewelry all the more valuable.

May Ann Viola, mayor of Basco Batanes, treasures a small but select collection of old gold jewelry.

Gold in the Ivatan life is very important, both historically and culturally, because Ivatan used to have their own gold to pan their own gold but in most recent years We didn't know of any Ivatan doing the panning.

But as a matter of fact, there is an Ivatan term for panning gold.

So the source of gold in Batanes is from the reserves in our natural habitat, right here in Batanes.

But some of the golds we have here in Batanes are from other places because there was trading between the Yvatan and the northern part of Luzon.

So most probably the gold that we have here now is from either Luzon or from part of Taiwan.

A lot of them are now Spanish influenced.

There are designs that are primitive to the Yvatans.

These are the necklace for men, which is called the padijit, an earring usually worn by the tribal chieftain or the mangpos.

The earring is a symbol of their status in life.

Other importance of gold in Ivatan life is it used to be a dory during pre-marriage rituals.

The man has to offer pieces of gold or gold ornaments for his wife to be.

The most intricate design of Ivatan jewelry are the dipelo, pinisipis, and the perlas.

It is also 1 of the heritage of Ivatan because when you see a lady wearing this Ivatan jewelry anywhere in the Philippines or anywhere in the world you could easily identify them because the designs are of batanes.

For the Ivatan, it is more than just the value of gold that makes a piece important.

It is the connection to the ancestors and to their protection and healing.

When a child is sick, the parents would relate it to having been pinay minaminasi, of the dead person.

And so an ethnomedic would say, you will take 1 of the most precious possessions of the dead person, like the jewelry, and have it wrapped in red cloth and pin it on the left side of the child.

So after a while, if that piece of gold is being attached to the child who is believed to be Pinay Minaminasi of the dead person, he gets healed.

For many young Filipinos, tattoos no longer bear the stigma they once did, nor are they related simply to beauty.

Tattoos have become expressions of a deeper conviction of social, political, and even personal beliefs and statements.

Among the Kalinga and many of the peoples of the Cordillera, tattoos are signs of social prestige accorded only to those who have proven themselves in battle.

Tattoos were never bought or commissioned but earned.

Tradition and innovation are the 2 worlds she must negotiate.

Her younger, broader international audience are helping bring the Kalinga Batok or tattoos to the world.

On a typical weekday in the village of Buscalan in Tinglayan, Kalinga, There will be local and foreign tourists lining up for a tattoo by Wang Od.

The Butbut Kalinga woman, who is somewhere in her 90s, has become a cultural icon, a tourist attraction, an economy booster.

Among tattoo enthusiasts and cultural workers, a small strip of her work on one's own skin is a badge of honor.

In marketing parlance, Wang Od's unique selling proposition is the experience of getting a batok, a traditional Kalinga tattoo from 1 of the last manwatok or tattoo artists of Kalinga.

It also means that 1 has endured the time-honored method by which the Kalinga have been tattooed.

With a gisi or pick, a thorn from the lemon tree, embedded into a long twig, which in turn is tapped with another larger stick, soothed from used pots and pans, mixed with oil, is the ink of choice rubbed into the wounds.

Time was when Wang Od would use the same soiled rag to wipe away blood on succeeding clients, but not anymore.

The design is chosen by Wong Od from her makeshift catalog, or if you're deemed special, customized for you from her vast repertoire of motifs.

She charges by tsangan, a kalingahan measurement of about 4 inches.

The process is a painful and time-consuming 1 for a small tattoo strip.

Think then of what the young Rungud must have endured to get both her arms tattooed.

There is no definite history when it comes to the origins of tattooing, but we all know that during the pre-colonial history of the Philippines, the indigenous peoples have this tendency to embellish the body permanently and temporarily.

When we say permanently, this comes in the forms of dental modification, tattooing, among others, and temporarily, like they put on beads, fabric, textiles in the body.

Almost all the early Filipinos have tattoos from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

And among the peoples in northern Luzon, the Igre people have their own way of tattooing.

They have full body tattoos from the face to the fingertips to the chest, arms, legs, and everything.

Looking through old archival photographs of the Cordillera people is a way of understanding the traditional value of tattoos.

On Ifugao, Kalinga, and Bontoc warriors, tattooed chests and arms denoted the rank of a great warrior, a leader, 1 who had distinguished himself in acts of courage.

Among Kalinga braves, it was customary to get one's tattoos during the victory feasts or tuno, when young warriors who had returned from a successful war raid were celebrated and honored.

Kalinga tattoos resemble a vast honeycomb pattern.

The design is copied from the scales on the skin of the python, a reptile associated with the Kalinga epic hero, Bana.

Traditionally, Kalinga braves were tattooed in public during the Tuno feasts.

It was a way by which they show their bravery, their ability to bear pain, the strength of their conviction and character.

Only then would they be considered maingur, true warriors, responsible for the safety and well-being of the village.

Traditionally, the wife of a Ma'ingmor had the right to wear tattoos along with her daughters.

Women could also be tattooed for purposes of beautification, to make herself attractive to warriors, to ward off disease, or infertility.

Others underwent the pain of tattooing to prove they possess the qualities of a woman ready for marriage, strength, character, discipline, and fortitude.

It's a symbol for the status of the wearer.

It's also a sign of fortitude for the women who wears them.

Tattoos is 1 of the most important embellishments or adornments in the body to become a full social person in the community.

You do not become a full person if you don't have tattoos in the community.

So it is an equalizing factor that you have to have these tattoos to be part of the community and to participate in these social events or even in the rituals that are being practiced in the community.

Today, Wang Od's skill has become a lucrative source of income from her family, as well as for other but-but in her village.

Because of her fame, the vanishing traditions of a once vibrant warrior society have been appropriated by a larger market.

And young Kalinga, like Harnisse Grace, have also learned the skill giving them an alternative livelihood.

But what do these tattoos mean to both the Kalinga and to tourists now?

And how does the money paid change the meaning of the batok?

Tourists come and urban Filipinos come because of their touristic encounters.

They buy the narrative behind the tattoos.

And also at the same time they buy the product of these encounters which are the tattoos of Wang Ud.

While I was there, who are unfamiliar with the Kalinga tattoos would even ask for, can Wang Ud tattoo a Times New Roman or Alibata, a name on somebody's skin to do that.

But of course you have to explain to that person that these things are not in the vocabulary of Wang Ud.

In a way, tourists have changed the meanings of tattoos.

It becomes graphic designs, no longer associated with the ritualistic practices in the village.

It becomes commodified and they put individual meanings because of the different motivations of their tourists.

The tattoos have changed from its collective meaning to individual markers of identity.

So it becomes more personal, unlike before it's collective.

But now it's becoming individual identity based on these different motivations.

In her book, Tapping Ink, Tattooing Identities, Dr.

Annalyn Salvador-Amores writes, For Wong Od, tattooing has become a livelihood and no longer serves purely ritual purposes.

She is childless, so the money she earns is shared among her siblings and their children.

When a neighbor is sick, they come to her to borrow for their medicines or bills.

When people die, she shares her money with the deceased's family.

This is a true sense of the Mam Mawatok, 1 who not only transforms bodies, but also gives the good sensibilities to be a Kalinga person.

In our traditional culture, The artist is part of a whole community where there is no concept of a person who is just an artist.

Because in the community, a person has to perform many functions.

Unlike in a modern economic way of life where people because of the need for a division of labor, a person has to be either an engineer, architect, artist.

There is usually a narrow specialization when it comes to trade and profession.

There are professionals or professional artists.

In a community, an artist functions as an artist not as a calling, not as a profession, but based on need.

Now, Wong On ideally should be doing tattoo only as part of the way of life of the Kalinga, part of ceremony, part of ritual function.

But the moment you become divorced from the community, and if you do tattoo as a professional artist, it is no longer part of the Kalingan way of life and therefore she may not be recognized as a traditional artist anymore but as a contemporary, modern tattoo artist.

And this is therefore the precarious position that Wang O may find herself in.

Is she part of the Kalingan way of life Or is she now part of the more modern way of life similar to what we regard, whom we regard as artists in Manila or other places?

Wang Od is a reflection of the many realities that our indigenous artisans must face.

The traditional meanings of batok are fast going, and so are the social structures that created the need for these adornments.

In their place is a young audience, enamored by the romance of traveling to Kalinga to get what they believe to be a traditional tattoo from an artist who has successfully negotiated the fine line between tradition and commercialization.

No 1 can tell for now if this is good or harmful to the entire Kalinga culture.

But right now, no 1 can argue that Wang Od is the most effective proponent of Dayao, our knowledge, our pride.


Speaker 0: A Continuing exploration of cultures and people we share this country with. Colorful encounters with Filipinos who can, if we let them, enrich our own world views, our knowledge of ourselves. Nourishing, sheltering, healing, adorning. Celebrating the manifold ways of being Filipino. This is Daya.

Our knowledge, our pride. The desire to look good, to celebrate our bodies, to proclaim our status through what we wear is not exactly just modern vanity. In fact, I'd like to think it links us to our ancestors, to our indigenous people, to all humanity. The Ayala Museum's collection of Philippine pre-Hispanic gold jewelry is an amazing testament to the creativity, technical skill, and exacting aesthetic of our forefathers. From earrings and pendants, to rings and necklaces, from heavy bracelets and woven and braided gold wire belts, to haunting and evocative death masks that would announce the wearer's status in the afterlife and in centuries to come.

The examples in the Ayala Museum and in other established collections come from Butuan and Laguna, Panay and Samar, Leyte and Pangasinan, from Bicol and the Cordilleras, locations that map out an archipelago rich in the traditions of personal adornment. The first Spanish explorers in the Philippines reported that the wealthy and powerful leaders they encountered wore much gold jewelry and adornment. These ornaments were amazing not only because of their quantity but because they were proof of an extensive knowledge of mining or panning for gold. But beyond mining and panning, it took exacting technical skill and knowledge to be able to process and melt the raw gold and fashion it into ornaments. Beating the gold into thin sheets and embossing it with raised designs was 1 common technique.

Another technique involved coiling and weaving gold wire into a fine mesh for necklaces or belts. More complex techniques were employed in the creation of beads. The lost wax technique, which survives today among the Tioli, Bagobo, and the Maranao, was used to create a multitude of bead designs. Evidence of an advanced technical skill can be seen in the minute, interlocking gear beads, In the variety of bead shapes, from the conical to oblong to the multifaceted, or the use of minute beads to race patterns and designs on a flat surface. There was gold to adorn the body, to cover the face in depth.

More than just objects of great beauty and historical value, What stories do these gold ornaments tell us? The narrative begins in a land rich in mineral and precious metals. It continues with a people who developed the technical skill to extract and process this resource, and continues with skilled craftsmen who could both design and execute. Batanas is known for the breathtaking vistas, the dramatic juxtaposition of mountain ranges and fast stretches of ocean. For a people, the Ivatan, their resilience, frugality and stoicism.

There is another side to the ibatan, a side that admires and values the beauty of gold. The material has never been plentiful in Batanes. So the very rarity of the material, its value as an heirloom and as a way of connecting to the Ibatan ancestors makes each piece of traditional jewelry all the more valuable. May Ann Viola, mayor of Basco Batanes, treasures a small but select collection of old gold jewelry.

Speaker 1: Gold in the Ivatan life is very important, both historically and culturally, because Ivatan used to have their own gold to pan their own gold but in most recent years We didn't know of any Ivatan doing the panning. But as a matter of fact, there is an Ivatan term for panning gold. It is called kapanesil. So the source of gold in Batanes is from the reserves in our natural habitat, right here in Batanes. But some of the golds we have here in Batanes are from other places because there was trading between the Yvatan and the northern part of Luzon.

So most probably the gold that we have here now is from either Luzon or from part of Taiwan. Yvatan gold has several designs. A lot of them are now Spanish influenced. There are designs that are primitive to the Yvatans. These are the necklace for men, which is called the padijit, an earring usually worn by the tribal chieftain or the mangpos.

The earring is a symbol of their status in life. Other importance of gold in Ivatan life is it used to be a dory during pre-marriage rituals. The man has to offer pieces of gold or gold ornaments for his wife to be. The most intricate design of Ivatan jewelry are the dipelo, pinisipis, and the perlas. It is also 1 of the heritage of Ivatan because when you see a lady wearing this Ivatan jewelry anywhere in the Philippines or anywhere in the world you could easily identify them because the designs are of batanes.

Speaker 0: For the Ivatan, it is more than just the value of gold that makes a piece important. It is the connection to the ancestors and to their protection and healing.

Speaker 1: When a child is sick, the parents would relate it to having been pinay minaminasi, of the dead person. And so an ethnomedic would say, you will take 1 of the most precious possessions of the dead person, like the jewelry, and have it wrapped in red cloth and pin it on the left side of the child. So after a while, if that piece of gold is being attached to the child who is believed to be Pinay Minaminasi of the dead person, he gets healed.

Speaker 0: For many young Filipinos, tattoos no longer bear the stigma they once did, nor are they related simply to beauty. Tattoos have become expressions of a deeper conviction of social, political, and even personal beliefs and statements. Among the Kalinga and many of the peoples of the Cordillera, tattoos are signs of social prestige accorded only to those who have proven themselves in battle. Tattoos were never bought or commissioned but earned. 1 woman has changed all that.

Tradition and innovation are the 2 worlds she must negotiate. Her younger, broader international audience are helping bring the Kalinga Batok or tattoos to the world. But at what price? On a typical weekday in the village of Buscalan in Tinglayan, Kalinga, There will be local and foreign tourists lining up for a tattoo by Wang Od. The Butbut Kalinga woman, who is somewhere in her 90s, has become a cultural icon, a tourist attraction, an economy booster.

Among tattoo enthusiasts and cultural workers, a small strip of her work on one's own skin is a badge of honor. In marketing parlance, Wang Od's unique selling proposition is the experience of getting a batok, a traditional Kalinga tattoo from 1 of the last manwatok or tattoo artists of Kalinga. Or tattoo artists of Kalinga. It also means that 1 has endured the time-honored method by which the Kalinga have been tattooed. With a gisi or pick, a thorn from the lemon tree, embedded into a long twig, which in turn is tapped with another larger stick, soothed from used pots and pans, mixed with oil, is the ink of choice rubbed into the wounds.

Time was when Wang Od would use the same soiled rag to wipe away blood on succeeding clients, but not anymore. The design is chosen by Wong Od from her makeshift catalog, or if you're deemed special, customized for you from her vast repertoire of motifs. She charges by tsangan, a kalingahan measurement of about 4 inches.

Speaker 2: I have a daughter. I have a daughter. I have a daughter. I have a daughter.

Speaker 3: I have

Speaker 2: a daughter.

Speaker 1: I have

Speaker 3: a daughter.

Speaker 0: The process is a painful and time-consuming 1 for a small tattoo strip. Think then of what the young Rungud must have endured to get both her arms tattooed.

Speaker 2: I am not sure. I am not sure if I am a tattoo artist. I am not a tattoo artist. I am not a tattoo artist. I am not a tattoo artist.

I am not a tattoo artist.

Speaker 4: There is no definite history when it comes to the origins of tattooing, but we all know that during the pre-colonial history of the Philippines, the indigenous peoples have this tendency to embellish the body permanently and temporarily. When we say permanently, this comes in the forms of dental modification, tattooing, among others, and temporarily, like they put on beads, fabric, textiles in the body. Almost all the early Filipinos have tattoos from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. And among the peoples in northern Luzon, the Igre people have their own way of tattooing. They have full body tattoos from the face to the fingertips to the chest, arms, legs, and everything.

Speaker 0: Looking through old archival photographs of the Cordillera people is a way of understanding the traditional value of tattoos. On Ifugao, Kalinga, and Bontoc warriors, tattooed chests and arms denoted the rank of a great warrior, a leader, 1 who had distinguished himself in acts of courage. Among Kalinga braves, it was customary to get one's tattoos during the victory feasts or tuno, when young warriors who had returned from a successful war raid were celebrated and honored. Kalinga tattoos resemble a vast honeycomb pattern. The design is copied from the scales on the skin of the python, a reptile associated with the Kalinga epic hero, Bana.

Traditionally, Kalinga braves were tattooed in public during the Tuno feasts. It was a way by which they show their bravery, their ability to bear pain, the strength of their conviction and character. Only then would they be considered maingur, true warriors, responsible for the safety and well-being of the village. Women could also wear tattoos. Traditionally, the wife of a Ma'ingmor had the right to wear tattoos along with her daughters.

Women could also be tattooed for purposes of beautification, to make herself attractive to warriors, to ward off disease, or infertility. Others underwent the pain of tattooing to prove they possess the qualities of a woman ready for marriage, strength, character, discipline, and fortitude.

Speaker 4: Tattoos are a form of rites of passage. It's a symbol for the status of the wearer. It's also a form of talisman. It's also a sign of fortitude for the women who wears them. Tattoos is 1 of the most important embellishments or adornments in the body to become a full social person in the community.

You do not become a full person if you don't have tattoos in the community. So it is an equalizing factor that you have to have these tattoos to be part of the community and to participate in these social events or even in the rituals that are being practiced in the community.

Speaker 0: Today, Wang Od's skill has become a lucrative source of income from her family, as well as for other but-but in her village. Because of her fame, the vanishing traditions of a once vibrant warrior society have been appropriated by a larger market. And young Kalinga, like Harnisse Grace, have also learned the skill giving them an alternative livelihood. But what do these tattoos mean to both the Kalinga and to tourists now? And how does the money paid change the meaning of the batok?

Speaker 4: Tourists come and urban Filipinos come because of their touristic encounters. They buy the narrative behind the tattoos. And also at the same time they buy the product of these encounters which are the tattoos of Wang Ud. In some cases they come to the village. While I was there, who are unfamiliar with the Kalinga tattoos would even ask for, can Wang Ud tattoo a Times New Roman or Alibata, a name on somebody's skin to do that.

But of course you have to explain to that person that these things are not in the vocabulary of Wang Ud. In a way, tourists have changed the meanings of tattoos. It becomes graphic designs, no longer associated with the ritualistic practices in the village. It becomes commodified and they put individual meanings because of the different motivations of their tourists. The tattoos have changed from its collective meaning to individual markers of identity.

So it becomes more personal, unlike before it's collective. Kalinga identity, we know that. But now it's becoming individual identity based on these different motivations.

Speaker 0: In her book, Tapping Ink, Tattooing Identities, Dr. Annalyn Salvador-Amores writes, For Wong Od, tattooing has become a livelihood and no longer serves purely ritual purposes. She is childless, so the money she earns is shared among her siblings and their children. When a neighbor is sick, they come to her to borrow for their medicines or bills. When people die, she shares her money with the deceased's family.

This is a true sense of the Mam Mawatok, 1 who not only transforms bodies, but also gives the good sensibilities to be a Kalinga person.

Speaker 3: In our traditional culture, The artist is part of a whole community where there is no concept of a person who is just an artist. Because in the community, a person has to perform many functions. Being an artist is not a specialization. Unlike in a modern economic way of life where people because of the need for a division of labor, a person has to be either an engineer, architect, artist. There is usually a narrow specialization when it comes to trade and profession.

There are professionals or professional artists. This is not the case in the community. In a community, an artist functions as an artist not as a calling, not as a profession, but based on need. Now, Wong On ideally should be doing tattoo only as part of the way of life of the Kalinga, part of ceremony, part of ritual function. But the moment you become divorced from the community, and if you do tattoo as a professional artist, it is no longer part of the Kalingan way of life and therefore she may not be recognized as a traditional artist anymore but as a contemporary, modern tattoo artist.

And this is therefore the precarious position that Wang O may find herself in. Is she part of the Kalingan way of life Or is she now part of the more modern way of life similar to what we regard, whom we regard as artists in Manila or other places?

Speaker 0: Wang Od is a reflection of the many realities that our indigenous artisans must face. The traditional meanings of batok are fast going, and so are the social structures that created the need for these adornments. In their place is a young audience, enamored by the romance of traveling to Kalinga to get what they believe to be a traditional tattoo from an artist who has successfully negotiated the fine line between tradition and commercialization. No 1 can tell for now if this is good or harmful to the entire Kalinga culture. But right now, no 1 can argue that Wang Od is the most effective proponent of Dayao, our knowledge, our pride.

♪♪ ♪♪

See all NCCA Philippines transcripts on Youtube

Dayaw Season 2: Episode 5 – Karangyaan – Celebrating the Body (Part 1)