Filipino Traditional Medicine

Filipino traditional medicine blends indigenous Austronesian plant knowledge with roughly 300 years of Spanish colonial and Catholic influence, producing the two practices most associated with Filipino healing: hilot (manual therapy) and albularyo (folk healing).

Hilot treats physical alignment and energy flow as central to health, often diagnosed through touch, while albularyo healing blends herbal remedies with prayer and ritual in a framework that doesn't separate the physical from the spiritual.

The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), a government agency, formally recognizes and researches traditional Filipino healing, and plants like lagundi and sambong have been developed into government-approved herbal medicines.