Safe Guarding the Practice of Hilot

Hilot Academy of Binabaylan has been in operation since 2016 that make us work for already 7 years as an Educational Ministry of Luntiang Aghama Natural Divine Arts Shrine of Healing Inc. And during those years, I have thought twice of stopping to work and that is when my mother died on 2019 and when I had a stroke last year of February 2022. But every time I am thinking to stop, the Spirits of the Ancestors will come to me and tell me to Continue.

This year and it’s almost Mid Year of 2023, I would say that we have served 7 people coming from Diaspora in sharing the knowledge of Filipino Ancestral Healing Arts and Science. And at the same time, on this year, I have received proposal of establishing Hilot School in London, UK. It seems that I have gone far with Just 7 years. But on those years that I have done, I still feel unaccomplished.

Yes as a school, we have produced Graduates that carry their acquired knowledge, skills and abilities in the country where they are now in. But as Filipino living in the Philippines, I am still striving to mold the status of Manghihilot in the Country. I am not certain to what I feel about when someone have asked me a Question if I do know an Authentic Manghihilot who still practices at this generation. And to be honest about my feelings, I want to answer that do you think that what you have learned from us is not authentic Hilot? I am weighing if that question offend me or just confuse me to what I am doing. So upon completing the course of the last enrollee of May, I had time to think and reflect on the works that I do.

Am I doing Authentic Hilot? Is the Hilot that I provide to my student are not Hilot? But who knows what Authentic Hilot is? If I am not doing Authentic Hilot, so will that mean that the experience that I have as a Child is not valid and authentic. So as the work of my Lolo and other Elderly Manghihilot are not Authentic? I feel that I have been Gaslighted through that Question. But now, my mind have recovered from the poison of greed and arrogance that have been energetically thrown to me and holding to the truth of my reality that I have created for my self and to the world.

I have been an Alternative Medicine Practitioner since 2002 and as an Accredited and Certified Trainer/ Assessor of Hilot in the Philippines since 2008. And throughout those years, I know that I have done my role not only as a Trainer/ Assessor but also as a Practitioner. And when I established Hilot Academy of Binabaylan, I realized that I have created a Bridge, where 2nd and 3rd Generation of Filipino in Diaspora may walk back again to the Path of our Race where they will not only know but also experience the Medicine of our Ancestors that make possible to our Existence today.

What I am ensuring in my work is that to make people of the present time to experience Hilot as how our ancestors benefit from it. I am safeguarding the practice of Hilot not to be commercialized and be molested. As the practice becomes popular and almost all countries wanted to have Hilot in their land. But as they commercialized Hilot in foreign land, it is the people in that place will benefit from it. So the local Manghihilot in the Philippines will be buried down as Foreigners will not come any more in the Philippines to experience Hilot but instead go to the nearest Hilot Center where it has been established. But what if, You who was born and raised in foreign land and still living there and want to have Hilot Business in your area, why not invest on Hiring Filipino Manghihilot to work in your place that they may earn an income from you as you profit from their work. Employing a Manghihilot to work in your business center will not only help you in promoting Hilot in your land but also will help Filipino’s to practice what they love and at the same time they can help their Family here in the Philippines to sustain their living.

But that is the thing if I think of Hilot in foreign Land, it requires the practice to have license or registration in practicing Hilot. But the problem is that your local government still is not aware of this, and the recognition must start here in the Philippines. And the Philippines already have National Accreditation and Certification of Hilot and that is through Technical Education Skills Development Development Authority and their standard regulation was implemented since 2008 (and we are so blessed to belong to the pioneer group of being Nationally Accredited and Certified Practitioner, Trainer and Assessor of Hilot) and on 2012 Philippine Institute of Traditional Alternative Health Care have implemented their own standards and regulation on the practice of Hilot that luckily we are sharing our expertise in developing it up to this present time.

But what do we really want to happen in the practice of Hilot?

I remember that our Parents would always tell their children so that when they finish and have their degree they would have a secured that that will give them secured income. And also if you graduated into a prominent schools such as in major Universities in the Philippines, you will not need to search for job but instead a companies will search for you. I don’t know if that system is still true up to this day. As far as I know that this work was now given to our local village official office or in our town city hall through City Employment Service Office, when an unemployed person will ask assistance to find employment.

And as a School of Hilot, aside from producing graduates, we also intend to find a secure job for our graduates. And the question is where they will work? Are we allowing our Manghihilot to work in Spa? For me, No! Specially if they are going to work here in the Philippines or in any places in the world. Why I do not want our graduates of Hilot to work in a Spa? Well, the Day Spa in the Philippines could hire anyone and train people who apply for a position on the skills they are going to perform. And usually, new hired employee is being trained by the experienced employee in performing the tasked required. And most likely these Spa’s have their signature treatment procedures that is different from the Quality that a School teaches their student. And most spa’s offer Combination Massage which amalgamate two types of massage which diminish the quality of each techniques. If there is a New Client who have no experience in any type of Treatment, they will not recognize the value of the two treatment techniques and will just recognize it just one.

Such as last week, I had a Spa and have seen a Combination of Hilot and Swedish Massage, as I experience it, I don’t feel the touch of Hilot but rather feel most of the session the touch of Swedish Massage. The practice of Combining Massage into one, as people thought it to be a Great Deal because they are paying just one Massage Session but having two techniques. But as for me, combining Massage shows the incompetence of the practitioner and dishonor the techniques. It is just a waste of money. Though we could not blame the therapist on that but it reflects also the competence of their trainer.

Now-a-days, Spa offers Home or Hotel Services that people think are very convenient and so as for the sake of earnings for the Spa, they offer it. Hilot Academy condemns that practice and will not allow to the Practitioners to do so. The reason why a Hilot Healing Center must be accredited because PITAHC assess the venue if the Center complies to the agency’s standards and Regulation in providing Hilot. Client’s home nor a Hotel are not part of the Hilot Healing Center Accreditation and besides the house of client is not a Therapeutic Environment for the practitioner. Client may think that it is convenient if they will only order Hilot Practitioner to come in their homes, but what they are missing out is the Hilot Atmosphere that a Hilot Healing Center provides.

When Hilot Care is done at home, there will be a possibility of distraction and at the same time there will be a limitation in providing the treatment procedures. All of the manghihilot needs is established on the healing center, unless a person only requires Massage then they should Hire a Massage Therapist than a Manghihilot.

So what does we envision how our Hilot Healing Center should look like? We make an Upgrade to our Hilot Binabaylan Training which hopefully will release by 2024 and in that curriculum we include setting up of Hilot Healing Center which should have an area or space in conducting Traditional Diagnostic Procedures; Area for Hilot Cleansing Rituals such as Pagbabanyos, Suob and Paligo; Treatment room area where Hilot Treatment procedure is applied; then of course there should be a supply room where materials, equipment’s and tools used in Hilot is stored; and ideally there should be a Herbal Garden where we get our fresh herbs that we use in Hilot.