Yesterday i made an Exhortation to our Academy about our Philippine Traditional Medicine which is Hilot. We emphasized yesterday that Hilot being our very own Traditional Medicine in the Philippine is not an exclusive modality but an inclusive one. As a Healing provider we do not discriminate people whether they are male or female, young or old, rich or poor, native or foreigner; All deserve to experience Hilot. So it does not matter when you have money or not in having Hilot, as long as you have a genuine need that will give out respect also to our Modality in Healing.
This is also the reason why we do not do Home Service Treatment because we want to inculcate to our patient their own responsibility to value Life and their Health. Pampering is not our Forte in Healthcare because we do not tolerate irresponsibility of an individual towards their health that will lead to great illness. As Manghihilot we stand as Teachers of Life, this is also the reason why during treatment session in Hilot there is an active communication between the provider and the receiver because the provider becomes a medium for the internal organs to communicate to the consciousness of the receiver.
In learning Hilot Binabaylan, we do not focus on teaching massage as our Battle Cry tell that Hilot is not a massage though we have Hilot Pahid but this is just only one modality that you can find in Hilot. If people will approach us and ask us to learn Massage i am directing them to Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) or PALMT (Philippine Association of Licensed Massage Therapist) to learn the Art and Science of Massage. But here in Hilot Academy we focus on the Wholeness of the individual and in order for us to understand the situation of our patient we also need to deal with their Soul.
This aspect of Hilot being a Soul Healing Modality is what TESDA and DoH are refraining to touch; and with this reason our Academy is not accredited of any government institution not because we do not qualify to their standard but because their standard do not qualify to ours.
It is stated in our Mission that:
HABI works on reviving the folkloric aspect of Hilot by bridging the gap of mysticsm into a more acceptable Scientific approach in Primary Healthcare.
And with this, Elimination will not help in the preservation and promotion of Hilot as Philippine Traditional Medicine but will only create discrimination among the practitioner like what is happening now within the Industry of Massage Therapy in the Philippines.
As Hilot, our treatment modality is not limited to commercialism and capitalism. We see Mother Nature as the Great Healer and Provider as she provides food and medicine for the common people. We believe that our Medicine can be easily found in our backyard as well as in our neighborhood. We just need to learn to communicate with mother nature to tell us what can supply our needs.
Our Ancestors, the early Manghihilot and Babaylan that lives before us; they are not a degree holder, uneducated and have no license in practicing their craft but they know well about the healing herbs as well as on what procedure they will perform in healing the sick and in giving cure to disease. But now-a-days, the Wisdom and Knowledge of our ancestors are being discredited because of the standardization. The Great Healers of the old years are now Quack Doctors of this generation. The Hilot Paltera/ Nagpapaanak becomes criminal because of the current governing laws that forbid the practice of attending to birth unless you are a medical professional accredited by the Law of the land.
Hilot Academy of Binabaylan 