February 11, 2026 08:14 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Bangladesh poll manifestos mirror India’s welfare schemes as BNP, Jamaat bet big on women, freebies | Drama ends: Pakistan makes U-turn on India boycott, to play T20 World Cup clash as per schedule | ‘Won’t allow any impediment in SIR’: Supreme Court pulls up Mamata govt over delay in sharing officers’ details | India-US trade deal: ‘Negotiations always two-way’, says Amul MD amid farmers’ concerns | Khamenei breaks 37-year-old ritual for first time amid escalating Iran-US tensions | India must push for energy independence amid global uncertainty: Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal | Kanpur horror: Lamborghini driven by businessman’s son rams vehicles, injures six | ‘Namaste Trump beat Howdy Modi’: Congress slams PM Over India-US trade deal | Historic India-US trade pact: Tariffs cut, $500B market opportunity unlocked! | Big call from RBI: Repo rate stays at 5.25%, neutral stance continues
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.