Actor Coco Martin surely got everyone’s attention with his undeniable boyish charm that even Kalinga’s oldest traditional tattoo artist, Whang-od revealed that she has a crush on FPJ’s “Ang Probinsyano” star.
In fact, she wishes to be able to meet him one day.
An Instagram feature on Whang-od reveals her desire to meet the handsome actor in person.
“Although people line up to see her (she’s popular in her own right), Maria (Whang-od’s real name) says she’s still waiting for a visit from her celebrity crush, the Filipino actor, Coco Martin,” it said.
The said feature also says that 100-year-old Whang-od keeps a life-size cardboard cutout of the actor. For now, she satisfies herself with that photo of Martin until she gets the chance to meet the actor in the flesh.
If and when Coco Martin decides to pay Whang-od a visit, he needs to travel far to the Kalinga ethnic group in northern Philippines and hike a mile going up to her home in Buscalan. Maybe Whang-od’s willing to do an intricate tattoo for Coco.
Whang-od single-handedly kept her tribe’s tradition alive b threading bitter citrus tree into a reed and hand-taps tattoos onto backs, wrists and chests of visitors who would line up to see her. She’s known as the last “mambabatok” or Kalinga tattoo artist.
She would often get featured in international news organizations while celebrities like Rhian Ramos, Drew Arellano and Liza Dino would visit her to get a tattoo.
