Nas Academy announced that they’re pausing operations in the Philippines.
On Sunday, Nas Academy officially announced that they’re pausing operations in the Philippines following the issue surrounding a course that featured traditional tattoo artist Whang-Od.
Nas Academy said in a statement released last August 8 that their intention was to educate but it was “misunderstood”.
According to Nas Academy, they’re committed to working with NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous People) in order to “ensure that all proper processes are followed”.
Nas Academy’s statement came after Whang-Od’s grandniece Grace Palicas said in a now-deleted post last August 4 that the “Whang-Od Academy” was a scam.
Also, Palicas slammed the program for “taking advantage of our culture” and said that Whang-Od “did not sign any contract with [Nas Daily] to do any academy.”
Following Palicas’ post, Nas Daily responded to the allegations by uploading a short video last August 5 wherein Whang-Od affixed her thumbnail to a contract, insisting that the tattoo artist gave consent to the program.
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Rappler reported that the “Whang-Od Academy”, which had been taken down, was priced at PHP 750 and offered an opportunity to “learn the ancient art of tattooing” from Whang-Od herself.
Following the controversy, the National Commission on Indigeneous Peoples Cordillera (NCIP-CAR) said that they’ll review the validity of the alleged contract between Nas Academy and Whang-Od.
Nas Academy said that they’re “committed to working” with the NCIP in order to “ensure that all proper processes are all followed.” However, given the ongoing investigation, Nas Academy had decided that they’ll pause their operations in the Philippines in order to focus on “strengthening our processes around how we collaborate with our partners”.
Moreover, Nas Academy said that they have full respect and belief in both the Filipino culture and people.
Nas Academy was an online learning platform created by Palestinian-Israeli Nuseir Yassin (also known as Nas Daily).
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