Nas Academy said it was offering Filipinos free community classes as a way of "giving back", over a month since the controversy over its course with revered tattoo artist Apo Whang-od erupted.
Palestinian-Israeli vlogger Nas Daily, whose real name is Nuseir Yassin, said in a Facebook post on Sept. 16 that his online learning platform was again offering community classes on content creation, sound design, cinematography and confidence-building to be held once a week starting Sept. 22 to Oct. 13.
This time around, classes are free of charge.
“Nas Academy is all about giving back, so we are running Free Community Classes in the Philippines. We’re teaching LIVE our best 4 courses – 1 each week for the next 4 weeks. And this is your turn to see what all the hype is about,” said the post.
Nas Academy halted its local operations following its advertised class on ancient tattooing, supposed to be taught by Kalinga's Apo Whang-Od, was found to be incompliant with local laws on indigenous peoples.
An investigation by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples showed that genuine consent wasn't earned by the foreign vlogger's team when they made the 104-year-old artist sign a "grossly onerous" contract.
Under Philippine law, an entire community's permission must be secured should an endeavor involve indigenous systems and knowledge be sought for commercial purposes.
The NCIP said it would assist Whang-od and the Buscalan community should they decide to pursue legal action.
Despite clamor for accountability from the Filipino public, Nas Daily blamed "internal disputes" for how the issue went down.
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