DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

SIKOLOHIYANG PILIPINO
SECTION A53 | SIR DARREN DUMAOP
TERM 3 | A.Y. 2014 - 2015

“The Contribution of Traditional Filipino

Faith Healing to Filipino Culture and
Modern Day Health Practices”
SUBMITTED BY ANGELA CONCESSA M. CHEUNG ON APRIL 9, 2015
 The Philippines, like any other nation, needs its most basic needs fulfilled before it is

capable of achieving success, of winning battles, and of surpassing the evils of foreign colonial

oppression. Behind the accumulation of events which make up Filipino history today, are the

traditional practices and beliefs which our Filipino ancestors have clung on to, embraced, and lived

during the ancient times. One of these include the traditional medical practices of the Filipino

doctors and healers of old.

According to Palorma in her 2014 presentation on Filipino Psychology, Filipino

psychomedicine, or “sikomedikal na sikolohiya”, is “the application of basic psychology to native

healing practices loosely considered as ‘medicine’”. These traditions were upheld amongst

ancestral Filipinos, and are strongly related with what is commonly known today as “faith-healing”

and with olden priestesses of Filipino tribes and communities, otherwise known as “babylans” or

“katalonan”.

Zeus Salazar, who is one of the building blocks of Sikolohiyang Pilipino in the country,

stated in his introductory paper to the Seminar on Faith Healing in the Philippines in U.P.

Psychology in the year 1979, the following passage, expressing his thoughts on an intertwined

relationship between traditional ‘faith-healing’ and Philippine psychology today:

”It has been my pet hypothesis that ‘faith healing’ is probably just one of the forms in

which our pre-Hispanic medico-religious system of beliefs and practices continues to

survive. A study of faith healing would, therefore, throw light on one aspect of the history

of Philippine psychology. In my view, research into the history of the Philippine

psychology cannot but delve into at least four lines of filiation, and ‘faith healing’ is but

the culminating point or an adaptive survival of one of these four areas of development of

our pre-Hispanic ancestors.”

 The Father of Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Virgilio Enriquez in Yacat’s (2013) book: “The

Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology”, defined Filipino psychology as the “scientific study

of psychology derived from experience, ideas, and cultural orientation of the Filipinos”. It goes

without saying that the field of medicine, which our ancestors gave great importance to in the past

– until today – would be included in his definition of “ideas and cultural orientation of the

Filipinos”.

The fact that the field of health and medicine is given much importance does imply that the

Filipino people also give great importance to not only his basic needs, but also his family’s,

friends’, and other members’ of the community. With this being said, a Filipino value comes into

the picture – kagandahang-loob, or “shared humanity” which is the linking socio-personal value

of the Filipino, according to Enriquez in Yacat (2013). He further defines kagandahang-loob as

the trait which “predisposes a person to be attuned to the needs and purposes of the larger

collective: the society”. In a barangay or community, there would usually be at least one member

catering to the people’s medical needs. It is probable that an individual’s sense of kagandahang-

loob increases as he or she consults and seeks the help of the community’s “specialized” healer,

either for himself or herself, or for a friend or family member. From another perspective, it is also

probable that because of the Filipino value of kagandahang-loob, the community’s healer is given

great importance, and in fact, even a high position – sometimes that of a leader – as the healer

answers one of society’s greatest needs. Salazar (1979) mentions in his paper that “…the

katalonans or babaylans were, aside from the datus, the leaders of early revivalist revolts against

Spanish colonialism. In fact, Hermano Pule can be considered, save for his sex, a nineteenth

century descendant of the katalonans[1]”. This supports that these healers were allowed – and

perhaps given – much power and authority within society.

 Furthermore, this implies a sense of kapwa, which according to Enriquez, is the core value

of the Filipino, which focuses not only on the self, but also on the others. Enriquez further explains

in Yacat (2013): “A person starts having kapwa not so much because of a recognition of status

given to him by others but more because of his awareness of shared identity[*]”. It is probable

that as one would go to a community’s healer, one would have or develop a certain level of identity

with that same community.

Palorma (2014) includes in her study psycho-medicinal practices and faith healers. In order

for the reader to understand and appreciate better this picture of ancestral Filipino practices, such

will thus be illustrated in the Table 1.

Table 1. Psycho-Medical practices by Faith Healers of the Pre-Hispanic Filipino period.

Name of Practice
Short Description:
or Belief:
To massage a pregnant mother in order to facilitate the delivery of her
Hilot
child
Kulam Hex or bewitchment
An irresistible craving for something by a pregnant woman. Faith healers
Lihi or manghihilot proclaim that the child will be born with abnormalities if
the mother’s craving is not satisfied.
This concept explains the phenomenon of how init (heat) and lamig (cold)
Pasma
simultaneously can cause rheumatism and other illnesses.
A ritualistic method of diagnosing illness wherein alum (tawas) is used
Pagtatawas
by the albularyo for the diagnosis of a variety of health conditions.
Explains the occurrence of a mysterious illness in a baby after it has been
Usog
visited by a stranger

Gabaa A Visayan term which means negative Karma

Susto “Soul-flight”, derived from Latin America

 The long-standing tradition of faith-healing and religious doctors is something the Filipino

must hold in high-esteem. The fact that our ancestors in pre-Hispanic civilization were independent

and self-sufficient in terms of health care, and were able to come up with logically-created

solutions to medical problems in the Philippine setting, is a significantly noble achievement, and

must not be disregarded as another simple cultural practice. In fact, I do believe that ancient

Filipino medical practices must be preserved at this present age. By doing so, one is not only able

to preserve some of the roots of Filipino culture, but is also able to learn from the way of living of

our country’s ancestors. The values that Filipino faith healing aroused are undeniably beneficial

to the community, such as kagandahang-loob and kapwa which were mentioned earlier.

In addition to this, ancient healing practices, techniques, and findings, prove to be useful

in modern-day medicine. I heavily cite Jaime Tan, MD, MPH, a professor from the University of

the Philippines (U.P.), College of Medicine, and head of the traditional and integrative medicine

clinic in UP-PGH (Philippine General Hospital) in one of his presentations, that it is important to

study Filipino Traditional Medicine for a number of reasons. These include (1) Cultural and

ethnolinguistic competency of Filipino health professionals, (2) W.H.O. recommended since 1978

and called for in its 1981 Assembly, (3) “Filipino Physicians and Filipino Health Professionals

who manifest the rich heritage, self-respect and uniquely Filipino character and identity of more

than thousand year old healing traditions of our country, are truly able to express the genuine

Filipino soul in their health care practice”, (4) Philippine government-supported by policies and

laws (PITAHC, Republic Act 8433, 1997), and (5) Inquiry for alternative medicine by patients to

their physicians.
 By preserving this piece of our ancestor’s legacies, we enrich the Filipino culture we know

and live today. By learning from our country’s history, we nourish the Filipino’s future, and guide

it to a path of prosperity.

Author’s Notes:

[*] Selections in bold by author herself, not from original source.

[1] Faith healers and religious leaders (i.e., babaylan, katalonan, etc.) in prehispanic periods

were usually of female sex.

Reference:

Salazar, Z. (1979). Faith healing in the Philippines: A historical perspective. An introductory

paper to the Seminar on Faith Healing in the Philippines: University of the Philippines,

Diliman. Retrieved from: http://asj.upd.edu.ph/mediabox/archive/ASJ-18-

1980/salazar.pdf

Yacat, J. (2013). Filipino psychology (Sikolohiyang Pilipino). In K.D. Keith (Ed.), The

encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 551-556). Hoboken, NK: Wiley-

Blackwell. Retrieved from: http://www.academia.edu/6013406/Filipino_Psychology

Palorma, R. (2014, August 23). Filipino Psychology. Retrieved from: Prezi: https://prezi.com/m-

dzgm1dbzud/copy-of-filipino-psychology/

Tan, J.G. (2010). Filipino Indigenous Medicine: From Tradition to Mainstream Practice.

Retrieved from: http://www.althealthfoundation.org/wp-

content/uploads/2010/06/Filipino-Indigenous-Medicine-From-Tradition-to-Mainstream-

Practice.pdf