In the province of Kalinga, body art and tattoo has been linked to their culture and history. For women, their tattoos symbolize beauty, maturity and fertility. They undergo a painful process of ink-tapping, locally called batok, wherein a thorn of a pomelo or a lemon tree is attached in a bamboo and will be tapped continuously by a wood hammer while the needle is laid on to the skin. It is not only the pain and time that is to be considered in this process, it also cost a woman to offer a chicken and sometimes a pig to get inked in Kalinga.
In these modern era, tattooed women are slowly vanishing because of the negative implications of tattoos in the society. It can be seen that only elderlies in Kalinga bears this body art. One of them is Mrs. Teresa Pagtan Sapyong also known as “Lola Tulisa” from the Municipality of Tinglayan, Kalinga, who turned 100 years old this year. The lines in her face expresses her experiences in life and her tattoos tell her story and affirm her timeless beauty.
Lola Tulisa, received her cheque amounting to PhP 100,000.00 from the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office Cordillera Administrative Region on June 2, 2021. She also received a Letter of Felicitation from the Office of the President congratulating her for reaching the age of 100. The said award is delivered in her residence in Poblacion, Tinglayan, by the staff of DSWD SWAD Kalinga, together with Ms. Angeline Ando (MSWDO), Mr. Camilo Langngag (OSCA President) and Mr. Carlito Oplay (OSCA secretary).
Lola Tulisa was born on March 3, 1921 and blessed with 7 children who gave her 185 (and counting) grandchildren. She said that her secret to her long life is eating food with no artificial seasonings and preservatives added. Her sense of taste is that strong that she can identify immediately in just a bite if the food served to her was seasoned with artificial seasonings. She is now in the stage of senility, with limited movement due to her arthritis. This, however, did not stop her for being a people person that she is. She loves gathering her children and grandchildren for a simple salo-salo. She also maintains harmonious relationship with her relatives and kailyan. This is seen as one of the contributory factors to her longevity aside from the food that she eats.
Under the Republic Act No. 10868 (An Act Honoring and Granting Additional Benefits to Filipino Centenarians and for other purposes or Centenarians Act of 2016), Filipinos who live to 100 years whether living in the Philippines or abroad will receive cash gifts worth P100,000 each.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development Cordillera Administrative Region has allotted P12 million for the implementation of the Centenarians Act. As of June 4, 2021, 87 centenarians have already received their centenarians award. #DSWD FO CAR, SOCIAL MARKETING UNIT, April Rose Soliaban & Jezebel Gumatay
