Philippine Indigenous Medicines: Not Clinically Tested but Patronized by Filipinos

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With the emerging high technology machined to produce quality medicines, most of the Filipinos are unlikely to deal with the modern way of curing diseases. While poverty is the common reason as these medicines are expensive plus the hospitals prescribing them also have high-cost, they cannot get rid of the so-called traditional treatment brought by their ancestors that they have eventually inherited. It continues nowadays despite the decreasing number of indigenous healers while young people no longer want to be taught such way. People may rarely see one in urban areas, but it is still widely being acknowledged in the countryside.

Long time ago, in the precolonial era, the native Filipinos already started relying heavily on traditional healing in curing diseases, sicknesses, and even those severe illnesses. A community locally called a barangay or town in English even had a proper organization set up with individuals who were experts in the traditional healing. These people took care of their crafts as they believed they were sacred that whenever they would be damages, a god would punish them and would refuse to heal their patients.

As mentioned above, indigenous healing involves superstitious beliefs, myths, environmental contact, and any other divine intervention. Prayer was always the first thing to do before handing the crafts towards the patients. Moreover, health is being thought as having a link with the environment surrounding the patients. This environmental factor would affect mental, psychological, spiritual, and even social health of the people. Since, it is environmental in nature, the cure would still come from the environment itself. This environmental factor can still be linked with the concept of Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Air China believes for the sake of tradition. It could be that Earth elements could be the answer for digestive problems suffered from patients, it is that Water base could heal water-related illnesses. Further, Fire could address the weakness in the body and would give energy to patients and other else connected to these elements.

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Even during the colonialization of the Spaniards and the Americans with their introduction to modern medicines and hospitalization, Filipinos continue patronizing the indigenous treatment of many diseases. The reason can be rooted in the lack of access to these then introduced medicines and poverty until, eventually, it has become a habit among them to seek medication at these traditional, unlicensed doctors.

Today, the practice is still there. Rural people usually travel to urban areas only to perform their ways of healing. There are also patients who would reach them out in their mountainous areas to make sure the healing would be effective as the rural areas are not polluted compared to the cities. Indigenous healing is affected by the condition of the environment. In fact, these patients mostly come from rich families and are willing to pay additional thousands of pesos if the healing is found effective. Also, they are already patients from different hospitals but have not been cured that is why they seek alternative medication.

These indigenous healers have different roles in performing the medication. They are named according to their specific role and purpose to which illness is addressed.

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Albularyo

Albularyo is a local name given to a person performing the healing using herbal medicines. Of course, prayer is still the first thing to perform before anything else. It can also be in a way prayer is being performed while the herbal medicines are being put around the body. The prayer comes from shamanism and myths in the locality. It is not the God from above but the myths saying there are many gods from different environmental elements.

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Mangtatawas

This type of healer utilizes candles, smoke, eggs, paper, ashes, woods, and other crafts which are not processed to heal the patients. Still, while performing the healing, prayers are also being performed with incantations.

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Manghihilot

Manghihilot is the Philippine traditional midwife, but it can be performed by a man. Just like massage therapists nowadays, people pay for manghihilot to relax themselves. This kind of healer persists today because many Filipinos find the modern massage therapy expensive. Manghihilot only offers around 60 to 80 pesos for a single massage session. It is also convenient for the patients because they are the ones who pay visit to their houses.

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Medico

The medico is a healer similar to the albularyo but he or she is applying Western concept of healing with the indigenous ones. He or she is a modern healer but still believes in the classical way of treating patients with the confidence in healing when clinically tested medicines are being used.

No scientific evidences have proven that these traditional ways of healing are effective. In fact, medical doctors discourage people from doing so and visit to the clinics and hospitals instead. On the side of the people, they claim the indigenous healing to be effective but fail to provide evidences. At least, the Department of Health in the Philippines has approved several medicines used by these healers. It is just that only these medicines were approved, not their ways of healing. Such medicines include herbal ones and those that are not processed. If only the government pays attention to this positive outcome spoken by the people, and bring them to laboratory tests, these traditional healing could have been the answer to different illnesses which the doctors can barely cure. There are also some foreigners who believe in the effectiveness of the wonders of these alternative medicines. They may have no therapeutic claims, but they are found out as more effective than the medicines available at the pharmacy.

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