The history of medicine in the Philippines discusses the folk medicinal practices and the medical applications used in Philippine society from the prehistoric times before the Spaniards were able to set a firm foothold on the islands of the Philippines for over 300 years, to the transition from Spanish rule to fifty-year American colonial embrace of the Philippines, and up to the establishment of the Philippine Republic of the present. Although according to Dr. José Policarpio Bantug in his book A Short History of Medicine in the Philippines During The Spanish Regime, 1565-1898, there were "no authentic monuments have come down to us that indicate with some certainty early medical practices" regarding the "beginnings of medicine in the Philippines". A historian from the United States named Edward Gaylord Borne described that the Philippines became "ahead of all the other European colonies" in providing healthcare to ill and invalid people during the start of the 17th century, a time period when the Philippines was a colony of Spain. From the 17th and 18th centuries, there had been a "state-of-the-art medical and pharmaceutical science" developed by Spanish friars based on Filipino curanderos (curandero being a Spanish term for a Filipino "folk therapist") that was "unique to the [Philippine] islands."
The Philippine shamans (known by several names in different languages i.e. katalonan, babaylans, etc.) were the first healers within the tribal communities of ancient Philippines. Later emerged folk doctors and the training and deployment of true medical practitioners as can be seen in the progression of Philippine history. At present, medical personnel trained based on Western medicine - such as Filipino nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, surgeons among others - coexists with the still thriving group of traditional healers that do not have formal education in scientific medicine who often cater to people living in impoverished areas of the Philippines.
Folk medicine
There are ten categories of non-medical traditional healers or folk doctors in the Philippines: the babaylan ("religious leader"), albularyo, the manghihilot or hilot (the traditional "massage therapists"), the magpapaanak (the traditional "midwife", also sometimes called a hilot), the mangluluop, the manghihila, the mangtatawas, the mediko, the faith healer, the local shaman healers (such as those that are from the Cordilleras). Most folk healers in Philippines believe that their "medicinal" and healing skills come from a supernatural being or given to them by God. Their practice and methods of curing ailments involves superstitions, recitation of prayers and religious rituals accompanied by the mediation of the Holy Spirit, herbology, hydrotherapy, massage therapy, and divination. Although often found active in rural communities, traditional Filipino healers can also be found in small urban and suburban neighborhoods. During Spanish times in the Philippines, the Spaniards refer to folk doctors or traditional as mediquillos ("herbal scientists"), herbolarios, and sometimes as "superstitious quacks". They were even called by the Spaniards simply as matanda (the "elder").
Babaylan
According to sociologist and anthropologist Marianita "Girlie" C. Villariba a babaylan is a woman mystic who is "a specialist in the fields of culture, religion, medicine and all kinds of theoretical knowledge about the phenomenon of nature." In ancient Filipino society, the babaylans are believed to be a woman who had been possessed by a spirit, or a woman who had dreams or had encountered life-altering experiences, or a woman who has inherited the role to become a "mystical woman" from an elder babaylan. Their functions include the role of community leaders, warriors, community defenders, priestesses, healers, sages and seers. Babaylans could be women, but there were many instances of gender fluidity amongst those who held the title, similar to the ways third gender, and two-spirit, functions in the role of many other pre-colonial societies.
Albularyo The albularyo (the "herbalist", herbolario in Spanish) is the "general practitioner" and the "primary dispenser of healthcare" in the hierarchy of traditional folk doctors in the Philippines. Because of the mass amount of different dialects spoken in the country, they have a diverse set of names depending on the region (suranho, sirkano, baylan, hapsalan, tambala, mananambal, etc.). He or she is knowledgeable in the use of medicinal herbs. The skill of the albularyo is commonly handed down from one generation to another in a family-line, involving apprenticeship. Abularyos are mostly the elders of the Barangays. The common folk diagnosis is that patients become sick due to supernatural "illness-causers" such as a duwende (dwarf), a nuno, a lamang-lupa (a "creature from the earth or underground or under the soil"), a tikbalang, or a kapre. He or she usually includes forms of prayers, such as bulong ("whispering" prayers) or orasyon (oration or "prayer recitation"), while treating patients. Albularyos may also practice rituals to drive away evil spirits, such as the performance of the kanyaw (cutting and bleeding chickens, then draining their blood on particular perimeters of the house), or the slaughter of pigs to search for the right type of liver that would reveal the cause of an illness. Sacrificial offerings are also sometimes used during treatments. Some albularyos choose to treat patients only on certain days of the week, such as Tuesdays and Fridays, or on the feast days of the Sto. Niño and the Black Nazarene, with the belief that healing powers are greater during those days. The methods and practices used by albularyos vary per region.
Mananambal
In Cebu, located in the Visayas region of the Philippines, a traditional albularyo is called a Mananambal and their work of healing is called panambal. Like the general albularyo, mananambals obtain their status through ancestry, apprenticeship/observational practice, or through an epiphany and are generally performed by the elders of the community, regardless of gender. Their practice, or panambal, has a combination of elements from Christianity and sorcery which appear to be opposites since one involves faith healing while the other requires Black magic, Witchcraft, etc. The combinations are a reflection of the legacies left from the conversion to Catholicism of the islands from Spanish colonization, since the Indigenous of Cebu had direct contact with the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, and on-going Indigenous practices before colonization. The panambals cover natural and supernatural illnesses using a wide range of methods. Two common methods used are herbal medicine and orasyon, healing prayers deriving from a bible equivalency called the librito.
Mananambals treat major and minor ailments. These ailments include but are not limited to: headache, fever, cold, toothache, dengue fever, wounds, Infection, cancer, intellectual impairment, and other illnesses thought to be caused by supernatural creatures. Aside from biological treatments, patients may also come to mananambals to form or break any form of relationships from marriage to friendships. Treatments are dependent on the type of sickness and on the mananambal themselves.
Hilot
The hilot may refer to either the manghihilot or the magpapaanak: The manghihilot ("massager", "folk massage therapist", "folk chiropractor") uses massaging techniques to treat sprains, fractures, and other similar conditions that affect the skeletal system and the musculatory system, including ligaments. The practice treats illnesses a variety of ways based on its own universal law and natural Law (physical manipulation, herbal remedies, and dietary/life style advice). Manghihilots are either chosen by maestros or master albularyos, or through apprenticeship. Gender is not a limiting factor since they can be any gender. When chosen, their trainings include a pilgrimage to a sacred mountain to perform the oracions, or words enabling the communication with the spirit world or the panawagan. Similar to the albularyo practice, the hilot is a fusion of spiritual and medicinal practices with physical manipulation and the focus of healing the whole body being the main distinctions between the two practices. Illnesses were referred to as pilay and were defined by imbalances in the body which are explained by their enkanto, or unseen entities, elements, and manifestations in the body. This practice shares similarities with India's Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The magpapaanak, the other "hilot", is the folk "midwife" who does prenatal visits and check-ups to pregnant mothers. Normally a woman, she delivers babies during childbirth and often performs the ritual called the suob (a form of "aroma therapy" performed while placed under a cloak).
Mangluluop The mangluluop is a folk specialist who makes a diagnosis based on the resulting appearance of a burned concoction composed of freshwater shell or saltwater shell (kalanghuga), salt, a piece of palm leaves that were blessed by Catholic priests during Palm Sunday, and charcoal resulting from coconut shells, coconut midribs. The burning of these materials is done while placed inside a tin plate accompanied by prayers and invocations and the making of the sign of the cross three times over the body of the patient. Depending on the appearance and shape of the burned materials, mangluluop refers and sends the ill person to either the albularyo, the mediko, or the manghihilot for further treatment. After the ritual and after telling the patient to which folk doctor to go next, the freshwater or saltwater shell is powdered by the mangluluop and prayerfully applies the powder following the steps of how to make sign of the cross on the patient's forehead, palms, and plantar arches of the feet. The remainder of the concoction is then thrown under the stairs at the entrance of the home to prevent evil spirits from re-invading the house.
Manghihila The manghihila (the "puller") uses the technique known as panghihila (the "pulling"), wherein the patient is rubbed with coconut oil accompanied by the use of a mirror, strips of cellophane paper that were used as wrappers of cigarette boxes, strips of banana frond, or wrappings of medicinal leaves. The type of "pull" felt during the massage therapy becomes the basis of what causes the ailment (i.e. the "smoothness" of the pull of the material used or the lingering or hovering or the strength of resistance of the applied material on a specific spot of the patient's body).
Mangtatawas
The mangtatawas (literally "user of tawas") determines the cause and nature of illnesses through the use of potassium alum, locally known in the Philippines as tawas as one of the primary ingredients. The other materials used in the diagnostic procedure are candles, eggs, mirrors, plain paper, and paper used for rolling cigarettes.
Mediko The mediko is a folk doctor and a specialist that combines folk medicine and some techniques used in western medicine. He or she prescribes medications and at times uses acupuncture to treat ailments.
Faith healer