Man of the World visits Buscalan to be part in promoting Kalinga tradition

Tinglayan, Kalinga – As this Man of the World pageant’s theme is focused on promoting tourism and preservation of cultural diversity and heritage, 25 of the pageant candidates visited Buscalan on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 to meet the country’s last hand-tap tattoo artist, Apo Whang-od.

The visit also aimed to promote the ‘mambabatok’ tradition of yKalingas.

The legendary tattoo artist has been practicing the ‘batok’ tradition for more than 80 years now.

It is said she experienced tattooing some of the headhunters in Tinglayan during her younger years as a tattoo artist.

Buscalan has become one of the most visited places in Kalinga in the presence of the oldest mambabatok, even frequented by foreigners just to be inked by her.

Tinglayan LGU data revealed that 10,366 tourists visited the place from January to April this year alone.

Tinglayan Mayor Sacrament Gumilab, in an interview with GURU Press Cordillera, said they made the arrangement for the candidates to have exclusive time with Apo Whang-od for photographs and short interviews as requested by pageant organizers.

Some candidates even got their tattoos.

“We are grateful for this opportunity that our place was picked by this international male pageant to showcase to the whole world. This means a lot to our tourism industry and, of course, to the promotion of our culture here in Kalinga”, Gumilab said.

This June 16, the candidates are scheduled to parade through the streets of the Summer Capital.

Sine Cordillera said that the route will be from Panagbenga Park to the CAP building - John Hay, featuring the national costume competition.

The pageant finals will be held June 18 at the Baguio Convention Center.

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