History of medicine in the Philippines

Their practice and methods of curing ailments involves superstitions,[3] recitation of prayers and religious rituals accompanied by the mediation of the Holy Spirit,[4] herbology, hydrotherapy, massage therapy, and divination.

During Spanish times in the Philippines, the Spaniards refer to folk doctors or traditional as mediquillos ("herbal scientists"), herbolarios, and sometimes as "superstitious quacks".

[3] 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."

The albularyo (the "herbalist", herbolario in Spanish[3]) 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.).

[6] 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.

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.

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.

Two common methods used are herbal medicine and orasyon, healing prayers deriving from a bible equivalency called the librito.

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.

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.

[2] Filipino faith healers come from either spiritist groups, diviners (a group that practice divination) or from persons who were previously saved from illnesses or death and had encountered epiphanies or mystical experiences who became convinced that they were destined to help sick people after receiving healing powers bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit or other supernatural beings.

[2] The shamans from the Philippine Cordilleras are folk healers that heal ailments based on the beliefs of people collectively known as the Igorots (includes tribes of the Bontok, Gaddang, Ibaloy, Ifugao, Ilongot, Isneg, Kalinga, Kankana-ey, Ikalahan, I'wak and Tinguian).

They also cling to animism, ceremonies that are believed to cure physical and mental imbalances, those that counter witchcraft, and those that leads to bountiful harvests.

Other tribal healers dispenses magical amulets to use against illnesses and the pouring animal blood on the human body to avoid and escape death.

To cure appendicitis, traditional Filipino healers during the Spanish period in the Philippines prescribed the intake of "water-treated fresh chicken gizzards" that would last for three consecutive Friday mornings.

In addition to this, the number of certified physicians, pharmacists, and surgeons trained in Europe were concentrated at the Cuerpo Sanidad Militar located in Manila.

[3] There were also the presence of cholera, influenza, smallpox, beri-beri, dysentery, bubonic plague, scurvy, rheumatism, asthma, syphilis, tetanus, toothache, and ulcers.

[3] Many Filipinos believed in pasma (a resulting condition similar to spasm which involves the occurrence of hand tremors, sweaty palms, numbness and pains[9] after the body's exposure to "unhealthy cold" and water), the state of nausog ("distress" caused by an unfamiliar person), and "personalistic sorcery".

[3] During the first part of the ninteeth century, public health policies in Manila led to the launch of smallpox vaccination throughout the archipelago.

A 1590 report of Bishop Domingo de Salazar, OP, confirmed the existence of shops with doctors and apothecaries managed by the Chinese in the Parián of Spanish Manila.

Aganduru wrote the medical manual to help ordinary Filipinos, with the assumption that such commoners could read the text of the book that was written in Spanish.

[12] In parasitology, Candido Africa, with Eusebio Y. Garcia and Walfrido de Leon, discovered obscure flukes found in the human heart.

[14] As World War II continued, the Japanese military stopped giving captives medicine and cures for handling diseases.

[14] In 1942, a Japanese surgeon in the Philippines forced soldiers to abduct a healthy Filipino man and brought him to a field where students were observing.

The surgeon anesthetized the man, performed unnecessary surgery (removing his appendix), and then, after the demonstration was over, fatally shot the victim.

[15] Akira Makino, who used to be a medic for the 33rd coast guard squad, stated that, when he landed at Mindanao in Zamboanga in 1944, some Japanese surgical doctors would amputate and made vivisections on captived Moros.

[17] The paintings were commissioned in 1953[17] to Francisco by four medical doctors, namely Dr. Agerico Sison, Dr. Eduardo Quisumbing, Dr. Florentino Herrera, Jr., and Dr. Constantino Manahan.

[17] The Philippine General Hospital now have on display only the reproductions of the original paintings, which were photographed by Benigno Toda III, a Filipino art expert.