Before the discovery of modern medicine, people around the world heavily rely on the power of nature to provide cure when they are sick; and these practices of our ancestors are now known as Traditional Medicine which in the Philippines is known as Hilot. As the modern medicine rise into power, they dismantle the role of traditional medicine to be an alternative and made the modern medicine as the conventional and more accepted form of providing cure. So the people who practice the traditional form of medicine was set aside so that the conventional medicine could work out in taking care of the health of the people. And those people who do use plant medicine in healing, they are encourage to brand their form of Medicine to have NO THERAPEUTIC CLAIM. It is known that years before the coming of Spain in our country, our ancestors rely on the efficacy of Plant Medicine to affect cure from any illnesses. It is also been recorded that Spanish Friars have conducted research on the Plant Medicine that our ancestors used until the first modern pharmacy was established in our country on 1830.
But now-a-days when a traditional healer produce and manufacture herbal medicine, the Pharmaceutical will label it as Food Supplement that has No Therapeutic Claim. Indeed as true as it was said by Hippocrates who was known to be the Father of Modern Medicine that:
Let Food be your medicine, and your Medicine be your Food.
Hippocrates
As Human being living in the modern day, we eat food 3 times a day or more. We eat breakfast, Lunch and Dinner plus the time we eat snacks. We eat our food to give us energy and strength. But we do not eat the prescribed medicine more than the recommended dosage that was given to us by the doctor. And those who do are known to be substance abuser which becomes an illness as well.
At this time of Pandemic, Hilot practitioners have the desire to help people by providing them relief from Covid 19 through Suob. But the Health Department whether locally or internationally have forbidden it’s use as it does not provide cure.
We agree that our practice will never provide nor Claim any Therapeutic Cure. As this will violate our Teaching that the Human Body has the ability to heal them selves from any diseases. The techniques that we apply does not compete to the modern technology that the modern medicine have, but our techniques only aim to assist the individual who suffer from illness and disease to find their own power to heal themselves. The video presented here talked about our role in Facilitating healing by removing the obstacle to the flow of the life force within the body of man. But until there is no exact cure for Covid 19, we pray that our Government will allow us to contribute in sharing our knowledge in caring for the people whom we love.
Hilot Academy of Binabaylan 