The Anthem Philatelist

I would never imagined I'd ever have a tatoo in my life. When I was young, I loathed rhe idea of having tatoos- why put graffiti on your body, it's tantamount to desecrating God's creation? Then I read Bantugang Sugbuan chapter on Painted Bodies by Jay Nathan T. Jore that this practice is a Cebuano cultural heritage. "Decorative painting and decoration in general during the precolonial Cebu were "not architectural, rather it was centered in one important entity - the human- body. As a prized possession, the human body is well celebrated ans decorated. Art was a celebration of this humanist attitude, geared towards the endowment of the human body with the implements and ornamentation that mark the bearers with proper distinction in society and command certain roles in community affairs". That notion that tattooing was undesirable was further shattered when I visited Whang-od . I also realized that she being an artist and my body- the canvas, I've become ...

In my younger days I detest tatoos. I thought, why would someone desecrate his own body (the temple of the Holy Spirit ) for art's sake . But upon reading the book Bantugang Sugbuanon , Pigafetta mentioned the early Cebuanos had tatooed bodies as an expression of their craft and status. So tattoo artist are technically creatives using the skin as the canvas, thus making the person a walking work of art! But this will be my first and last tatoo. So glad I decided to pursue this daunting trip. Proud of our IP 's, cultural minorities and their traditions❤️ Thank you Whang-od . Thank you Grace and  Sunstar for the feature! Encounter with Apo Whang-Od: The Last Mambabatok The frenzy surrounding the April 2023 cover of Vogue Philippine edition drew my attention to the story of this famous 106-year-old cover girl. As we were already planning a trip to the Rice Terraces in the Cordilleras, I conferred with our tour operator on how to go about visiting Buscalan after Banaue and b...