Nas Academy’s contract video doesn’t justify Whang-Od course, says legal counsel
ICYMI, the issue surrounding Nas Academy and its online course led by Apo Whang-Od has reached another installment. In response to accusations of cultural exploitation, the learning platform released a video, showing the mambabatok artist affixing her thumbprint to a contract, thus giving ‘full consent’ to the program.
But according to a lawyer, things aren’t that simple.
In a livestream on the issue, Trixie Cruz-Angeles, Legal Counsel for the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, says that the video is hardly a go-signal for Nas Academy to monetize the 1000-year-old tradition.
‘Ang applicable law, bago ang kontrata, is the Indigenous People’s Right’s Act’, explained Angeles. Known as the IPRA law, Republic Act No. 8371 is responsible for protecting the culture, tradition, and institutions of indigenous communities.
Angeles says that while Whang-Od is the artist, she is also a member of Kalinga’s Butbut Tribe. The tribe, in turn, ‘owns’ the mambabatok tradition. Therefore, she cannot lay a sole claim on the practice.
According to the IPRA Law, in order for Nas Academy to monetize the practice, they need to acquire consent from the entire indigenous community, not just Whang-Od’s. In the video’s caption, Nas Academy said that the artist’s immediate family also gave their permission.
The law also supersedes any agreed contract that Nas Academy and the tattoo artist may have, regardless of validity. Even then, the contract itself is also subject to further verifications, such as proof of ‘free, prior and informed consent’.
If the contract is not written in the signee’s first language, there needs to be proof that it was fully explained in a language that the signee understands. Nas Academy’s footage of Whang-Od imprinting her thumbmark alone will not suffice.
As revealed by Gracia Palicas, Whang-Od’s grandniece, the 104-year-old did not understand the translators who visited her.
Will Nas be jailed?
Ultimately, Angeles says that the focus should be less on the contract, and more on whether the indigenous community gave the go-signal on the program. But if said community tapped Whang-Od to be a representative on their behalf, then the contract may be valid.
On the prospect of jail time for Nas Daily, real name Nuseir Yassin, Angeles says that it won’t necessarily happen. But the Academy cannot launch its mambabatok course, as it is considered intellectual property.
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Source: we the pvblic
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