On August 4, Grace Pelicas, grandniece of the famed Butbut mambabatok Whang-Od, wrote a Facebook post calling online learning service Nas Academy a “scam” for advertising a workshop on Whang-Od’s cultural tattoo skills allegedly without the latter’s consent. The post stirred controversy among Filipino netizens who accused the platform of Pinoybaiting, prompting vlogger and influencer Nuseir Yassin—better known as Nas Daily—to try and disprove allegations by sharing a video of Whang-Od signing a contract with his party and supposedly giving her approval of the course.
While the video satisfied some people’s doubts about whether Yassin has the right to feature Whang-Od’s indigenous knowledge on his platform, it has also raised concerns on how content creators, especially those from abroad, engage with indigenous communities and commercialize our local heritage.
A legal snafu
Any activity involving indigenous communities, whether it be academic pursuits, energy exploration, or even humanitarian work, requires the approval of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). Created through Republic Act (RA) 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Act of 1997, the agency ensures that the rights of indigenous groups are protected.
To be approved by the NCIP, one must observe the rights to Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of the indigenous community they will work with and obtain a certificate, which can be a long process. It requires an initial meeting between the applicants and the indigenous group, in which they present their proposal to the elders of the community. After the community reaches a consensus, both parties return for a second meeting to decide whether to accept or reject the proposal.
This arrangement is maintained because RA 8371 defines consent as a communal act: it is not enough that one person agrees to it—the entire community has to be on board with the proposal, as well.
Nas Academy seems to have not undergone such a process. Yassin’s posts lack any mention of coordinating with government agencies, and later statements made by the NCIP imply that they were only made aware of the academy’s plans when the incident went viral. Even the Nas Daily statement of apology suggested that they have just begun to work with the commission.
The fact that Yassin neither consulted the NCIP nor conducted any research beforehand is also apparent in how he dealt with Whang-Od. Researchers who deal with indigenous peoples understand that legal consent is tricky, especially when it is in the context of a business contract. Business contracts are difficult to navigate, filled to the margin with nuance and fine print that even savvy businessmen have to come prepared with a lawyer. Expecting a 104-year-old indigenous person to understand the full implications of a business contract with little legal help is a dubious proposition.
Furthermore, as mentioned before, the consent of Whang-Od alone would not be enough. The entire Butbut Community would have had to agree before Nas Academy could exhibit their traditions.
Such brazen violations of Philippine law and intellectual property rights are clear indications of the failure of Yassin’s team to research and understand the cultural and legal nuances that their project required—that is unacceptable.
Culture for sale?
However, a more far-reaching question comes into play in this fiasco: to what extent should indigenous communities open up their culture to commercialization, if at all? In his initial response, Yassin and his supporters argued that the P750 charged to each participant of the Nas Academy course will go to Whang-Od and her community.
But just how exactly would this benefit their community? Most indigenous communities have traditional ways of life that existed independently from money. In theory, they should not even need the money. However, encroachment, loss of ancestral land, war, and other factors have caused them to lose their way of life. These intrusive modernization movements forced them to rely on a system foreign to them, compelling them to place a value on things that, to them, are priceless.
More importantly, commercializing the very culture of an indigenous community is a dangerous idea. Culture is not simply some artwork or musical piece that one admires in museums and music halls—or in this case, in an online course—it is a way of life.
While the tattoos of the mambabatok are visual art, its meaning is rooted in the traditions of the Butbut tribe that date back thousands of years. The mass commercialization of these intangibles can lead to its purpose being lost, leaving it a mere aesthetic.
There is no worse example of this than when Whang-Od herself was called to sell her craft at the 2017 FAME Trade Fair in Manila. She utterly exhausted herself to produce tattoos for hundreds of people who lined up. Did those people understand the cultural significance of the inked marks on their bodies? Or did they perhaps merely think of those tattoos as an aesthetic they can show off to their friends and family? It is hard to tell.
Once more, with sensitivity
Yassin and his team have since apologized for this fiasco and promised to coordinate better with the NCIP and with indigenous communities the next time they roll out Nas Academy. This admission of fault is admirable, but consideration for the welfare and development of indigenous communities is something that his team should have been more sensitive to from the very beginning. They may have been well-intentioned, but bypassing the law and not doing their cultural research is brash and reckless.
Indeed, in their excitement to feature the cultural heritage of the Philippines, they have made grave errors that could have brought more harm than good for Whang-Od and her community.
Influencers who wish to feature indigenous communities and their practice need to understand that dealing with them requires careful planning and research. One does not simply walk into Kalinga land, bearing deals that they cannot fully understand. Indigenous communities live in a different world, with worldviews and needs very different from our own. This disparity in worldviews has been exploited so many times over the centuries by the most unscrupulous sorts.
If influencers genuinely wish to use their platform to advance indigenous causes rather than use them to rake in cash, they must take the time to respect their ideas.
5 replies on “Nas Daily’s ‘Pinoybaiting’ cheapens indigenous culture”
Hello. I was planning to share this article til I reached the last part.
Nas Daily hasn’t sent an apology yet. The video that they posted was more like a diversion to the real issue and customised only to be seen ij the Philippines.
Please correct your article, it was NOT an apology.
This situation proves how stupid Filipinos are and quite frankly, how racist they are, too. You’re all so quick to jump on Nas Daily as a Pinoybaiter and cultural appropriator, but you same Pinoy shit talkers won’t say a single word about all the Caucasian full-time career YouTube vloggers who are only in the Philippines to promote themselves, grow their channel, and become as rich and famous as possible.
Sure, they’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear – that they love your country, culture, food, people, and everything else. But you won’t even think twice at the reason they shovel this shit right into your waiting mouths. Instead, you’ll spend hours upon hours of each day, watching 100 different foreign Pinoybaiting vloggers all showing the exact same videos copying each other – First Impressions of Manila, Foreigner Tries Jollibee, Foreigner Balut Challenge, PH Malls are Insane, etc – all giving the exact same reaction, the exact same over exaggeration, using the same “wow, omg, insane, heavenly” keywords, and all doing so knowing full well that the more they fake it, you Pinoys will sub and watch, thus affecting their bottom line.
Never mind that the Bureau of Immigration does not allow any foreigner with a temporary visitors visa to work and/or engage in any paid activities. Therefore, it’s actually illegal for a full-time career YouTube vlogger to not only earn YouTube revenue while in the Philippines in a tourist visa, but it’s also illegal for them to sell merchandise, engage in paid partnerships, sponsorships, and brand ambassadorships with Philippine companies (as well as International ones).
You’ll make excuses to justify your own naïveté and gullibility, such as claiming they love the Philippines, so that’s why they live here. But breaking the immigration laws of this country is certainly it love or proof thereof.
You also throw around false narratives that they are promoting the Philippines and helping with tourism. For starters, YouTube analytics routinely show that between 90-97% of the viewers and subscribers of these foreign Pinoybaiting vloggers are Filipinos (locals, OFWs working overseas, and Pinoys living permanently in foreign countries. Therefore, you aren’t promoting a country to the very people who are from that country, or living in that country. To claim such is pure insanity. The only thing the Pinoybaiters are promoting are themselves. The remaining 10% or less of foreigners watching these Pinoybaiters are, you guessed it – OTHER Piniybaiters, who then see the writing in the wall and rush over to the Philippines to also grab their share on the Pinoybaiting pie.
As for helping with tourism, their 90-97% Pinoy base isn’t touched upon to help with tourism whatsoever. The locals are already here. The OFWs come back on their own steam to visit family, not because they were persuaded by a Pinoybaiting vlogger on YouTube. And those Pinoys residing permanently overseas are busy visiting other countries, and those who do come back to the Philippines are again doing so because of family and friends, not YouTube vloggers.
So while Nas Daily certainly deserves a good deal of public criticism for his actions, so do all the other Pinoybaiters whom you people seem to not want to shed light on.
Making It Happen Vlog, who spent 3 years in the Philippines on tourist visas, all while admitting on video to being paid media partners with BMW Philippines, BMW Motorrad Philippines, Guess Clothing Philippines, Cebu Pacific Airways, and dozens more. All 100% illegal and deportable acts, according to the Bureau of Immigration, but who refused to act in complaints due to their purchasing of Quota Visas, thereby ensuring they can stay permanently in the Philippines.
Their best friends, The Juicy Vlog, who are equally as guilty, having been paid media partners with BMW Philippines, Volkswagen Philippines, and countless more. And also not registering with the Bureau of Internal Revenue as required by law and also being PH income tax evaders.
Eight Miles From Home, another group of Pinoybaiters who are in the Philippines on tourist visas, earning thousands of British Pounds per week illegally, paying no Philippine income taxes and even being so dumb as to video themselves giving beer to their 5-6 year old daughter to drink and sharing it with the world.
Fast forward to May/June 2022, and a quick YouTube search for “First Impressions of Manila” will show you about 100 new full-time career Pinoybaiting YouTube bloggers who all rushed here not for tourism, but to also grow their social media careers while on a tourist visa. To copy each other’s videos down to every minor detail, including the same video title, the same yellow and white font color and Pinoy flag in the video thumbnail, the same topic (1st impressions of Manila, foreigner tries Jollibee, balut challenge, Boracay is insane, PH Malls are huge, etc).
This is not done out of love of the country, culture, or people, but out of greed and thirst for fame and fortune. They disregard the immigration laws of this country, they look into the camera almost daily and lie right through their teeth and you Pinoy viewers eat up every word without any delay. You tell them they are practically Filipino, that they can stay as long as they want and you’ll support them, you actively encourage them to Pinoybait you because of your own lack of validation.
None of this will have any meaning to you, the reader, because you are too blind to see when you are being used and taken advantage of. Even when an outsider points it out and can back it up with facts. The Pinoy mind will simply deny deny deny because you can’t wrap your mind around the idea that your heart and soul was misplaced on a subset of people who are in this country merely to trick you into believing they truly care about this country.
Good luck to you guys because you’re truly going to need all the luck in the world.
Who cares about Nas Daily when you have scumbag human pieces of shit like Mike and Nelly, George and Lucy, 8 Miles From Home scammers, Shev and Dev, Travel and Dabble, Harry Jaggard, and the dozens of other scammers liars and theives living here.
Here’s my two sense. Pinoys shit on Nas Daily but he’s done way more to help Filipinos than the real Piniybaiters I see all over YouTube now. This new breed of assholes, like Mergim Vlogs, Shev and Dev, and OMG guys, there’s like 50 or 60 of these new channels who all flew here at light speed from Thailand to pretend they love everything about this country without knowing anything about it – they don’t even make a single original video. It’s copy and paste. It’s like they all use the same template, same title, same comments. They are here to earn money, not pay income taxes here, and not contribute anything to this country. I’d take Nas Daily over these low life liars any day of the week.
PS: Making It Happen Vlog bribed their way to obtaining permanent residency. Why doesn’t the BI arrest and deport them?
Hey guys. Mike from Making It Happen Vlog here. Look, I understand the outrage, truly I do. But the fact is, you people need to get over it and accept that money talks in the Philippines. Nelly and I have been working as full time YouTubers for the last 5, almost 6 years now. To be frank, it’s simply easier to use a tourist visa and work without anyone knowing about it from the immigration authorities, since getting a work visa is too time consuming. Also, why should we waste our hard earned money to pay income taxes in the Philippines? That’s not our responsibility to support the local economy. Let the local Filipinos pay for it. I think you guys need to stop being jealous of Nelly and I having a better car than you and a much better home, too. Between the free clothes we get from Guess, and the free car and motorbike from BMW, I think we deserve to earn a lot of money and live our best life in the Philippines. Yes, we know it’s a third world country. That’s common knowledge, isn’t it? But as long as the Filipinos continue to watch our videos and put money in our pockets, we will continue to love the Philippines. Even love costs money. Anyway, thanks for hearing us out. Please watch our videos at Making It Happen Vlog and What’s Up Philippines, which is our reaction channel. Also, we have merch for sale online.
Additionally, we will soon be accepting applications for any female who wish to help make our dream of having a baby come true in the Philippines. We are seeking a young, bright, intelligent female between the ages of 18-20 who would be willing to be impregnated by myself (Mike), and can carry our child to full term, as we can’t get pregnant on our own. For facilitating the pregnancy process (making the baby), carrying the baby to birth, and successfully giving birth, we are offering to provide a small but clean room for rent in Mandaluyong (3000PHP max per month) for a maximum term of 9 months, 250PHP cash per week for up to 9 months, as well as a free Making It Happen t-shirt, sweatshirt, and Bohol online travel guide download. Stay tuned to our channel for more information.
Thanks again, and remember to Make It Happen!!!