In the mountain village of Buscalan, where time seems to flow slower than in any other corner of the Philippines, 109-year-old Apo Whang-Od has once again found herself in the media spotlight. This time, the reason is not another session of applying a ‘batok’, but a story about a foreign tourist who asked the elderly woman to tattoo a traditional pattern on an intimate part of their body. Local authorities in Tinglayan, Kalinga province, have issued a statement reminding the public about the boundaries of what is acceptable and that living heritage should not be turned into an object of experimentation.