Body tattooing among the early Visayans so caught the attention of the first Europeans to come to the Philippines that they called the
Visayans and their islands Pintados ("the painted"). The art (patik in Visayan) was fairly widespread in Southeast Asia. It is theorized that Indonesian cloth dye-ling, known as batik, developed as a substitute for tattooing.

The patik was talismanic. Powerful beasts, esoteric patterns, and religious formulae conferred on the body special powers, such as invulnerability. The patik was a status marker, a sign of bravery, hence a common rite of passage for young men. In the Philippines, according to Jesuit Francisco Colin, "no tattooing was begun until some brave deed had been performed; and after that, for each one of the parts of the body which was tattooed, some new deed had to be performed."

Antonio de Morga wrote in 1609 that the Visayas were called Pintados because "the more prominent men there from their youth tattoo their entire bodies, pricking them according to a design, then throwing a black indelible powder over the bleeding.

Tattooing may cover the entire body, from in step to forehead, and it was limited to men though it is written that "women did not tattoo themselves in the body but only in the hands and with very fine designs."

Tattooing has not completely disappeared. Albeit dim and disfigured, neither have its meanings.

Reprinted from the book: Cebu: More Than an Island
The Local World of Crafts
By: Raymund L. Fernandez

Photos courtesy by Ronnie Macapagal of Maanyag Tattoo Studio