Mambabatok: Tattoo tradition in the Philippines4 min read

Throughout history, women have relied on various techniques to amplify their beauty. Before the age of lipsticks and eyeliners, there were ancient beauty techniques women would adopt in pursuit of boosting their allure.

In the Philippines, there is a tradition that has been practised by women for many years. This is popularly referred to as “batok” meaning the art of tattooing your body with tribal designs using bamboo stick and thorn.

Batok is believed to have been practised for about one thousand years. Usually, Filipino women who have reached the right age are allowed to get tribal designs to enhance their beauty. But this art of beauty is not just left to women. Men that have proved themselves worthy enough to get the mark of beauty are allowed to participate in the mambabatok tradition.

Hence, you should not be surprised to find that the majority of men with these ancient tattoos are Kalinga warriors or headhunters. Kalinga warriors have marks and traditional designs that represent the battles they fought with their tribe’s enemies.

While batok is used to enhance the beauty of women, men that choose to decorate their bodies with these ancient marks are seen as brave and courageous people in the society. Therefore, a Kalinga warrior who is heavily marked with these ancient tattoos commands a lot of respect and could make his enemies tremble in fear.

The people who put these ancient marks on the bodies of men and women are referred to as mambabatoks. The main challenge facing this ancient practice is that the original mambabatoks have died. That leaves the thousand-year-old practice in danger of being lost forever.

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The legendary Mambabatok from Kalinga

The good news is that there is one mambabatok who is still alive and despite her old age, she is still practising this ancient art. Meet the legendary mambabatok from Kalinga, Apo Whang-Od.  For more than seventy years, Apo Whang-Od has been tattooing women and headhunters in the region of Kalinga. This elderly woman was born in 1918 and is considered to be the last mambabatok still living.

Whang-Od has tribal tattoos covering her chest and arms and it is her father who taught her this ancient art of tattooing the body with ink and thorns. While she was still young, Whang-Od used to tattoo her friends, including herself, for practice. However, some tattoos on her body were done by her late father.

After the death of her husband following a logging accident, Apo Whang-Od dedicated her life to practice batok. Almost hitting the centurion mark, the remaining mambabatok of Kalinga is still doing what she does best. Her days start with a morning routine of taking coffee before she goes outside to feed her chickens. Later, you will find her seated outside her home tattooing locals, visitors and even foreigners.

Whang-Od’s ancient marks feature Baybayinand tribal patterns. Her tattoos cover the arms, back and chest and most of them symbolize bravery and nature like ferns, stars, steps, rice bundles, centipedes and python scales.

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Receiving a tattoo from Whang-Od

Before she tattoos her guests, Whang-Od’s begins by removing her tattooing tools, which includes a bamboo stick, orange thorn needle, a short stick, and a coconut mixing bowl. Afterwards, she gets soot from her fireplace, which she mixes with water to create ink inside the coconut mixing bowl. She then dips a blade of grass into the ink to create a pattern on your skin.

After drawing the pattern, Apo Whang-Od begins her tattooing session. She dips the orange thorn needle into the ink and follows the pattern she drew before with a blade of grass. This is done by using a short bamboo stick with the orange thorn needle.

She keeps following the same pattern until the whole ink is absorbed from the needle. In case the tattoo design is small, it might take her half an hour to complete. However, if the tattoo design is large, it might take between two and three hours to complete.

It is painful to prick your skin using a thorn so that you can get an ancient tattoo. This is because the thorn is not smooth like a needle, which adds to the amount of pain you will experience. However, the overall benefit of beauty outweighs the pain you will experience when you get a tattoo from mambabatok.

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