September 21, 2026 12:01 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Arvind Kejriwal, family ‘missing’ from Delhi voter list, claims Aam Aadmi Party | ‘No UPI above ₹2,000?’ Ghaziabad traders put up ‘cash only’ hoardings | Trump signs Russia sanctions bill: India faces fresh 100% tariff threat over Moscow oil | Caught using ChatGPT for exam answers, IIT Bombay student dies by suicide; students protest | Congress' Nandigram candidate arrested after Mamata's support amid TMC symbol row; Bengal bypoll gets chaotic | Gurugram murder shocker: Groom-to-be leaves sisters at Delhi restaurant to meet ex-colleague, found dead days later | Delhi horror: Teen allegedly gangraped, stabbed to death and dumped in field; dogs eat parts of body | TMC name, symbol frozen: EC tells rival factions to pick new identities ahead of Bengal bypolls | Married just 17 days ago: Hyderabad engineer mysteriously found dead at US home | ‘We will promote cash’: New UPI charge triggers trader backlash, Opposition protests
Whang-Od
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Meet Whang-Od: The 106-year-old tattoo artist from Philippines is now the latest Vogue cover model

| @indiablooms | Apr 01, 2023, at 11:15 pm

Vogue Philippines' April cover has a special person on it as she set a new record of being the oldest person ever to appear on the front of the iconic magazine.

106-year-old Whang-Od, also known as Maria Oggay, who is appearing on the cover of the magazine, is a tattoo artist by profession.

Residing in the mountain village of Buscalan, about 15 hours north of Manila, in Kalinga province, she is considered the country's oldest mambabatok — or traditional Kalinga tattooist, reports CNN.

Describing the cover, the magazine wrote on its Instagram handle: "Heralded as the last mambabatok of her generation, she has imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe—signifying strength, bravery, and beauty—on the skin of thousands of people who have made the pilgrimage to Buscalan."

The artist has been training her grandnieces Elyang Wigan and Grace Palicas for several years to pass on the art to the next generation.

"(My friends who gave tattoos) have all passed away," Whang Od told CNN Travel in 2017.

"I'm the only one left alive that's still giving tattoos. But I'm not afraid that the tradition will end because (I'm training) the next tattoo masters," she said.

"The tradition will continue as long as people keep coming to get tattoos," she added.

"As long as I can see well, I will keep giving tattoos. I'll stop once my vision gets blurry," she said.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.