Philouise’s Weblog

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE and the  Mumbaki

Last October 18, 2013 the Episcopal Church Women coordinated a Traditional Medicine Medical Mission at the EDNCP Hall where 61 patients and 18 volunteers converged. The irony of it was the traditional medicine medical mission was not the traditional medical mission because the modalities applied, after the history and assessment taking, were Acupuncture, Acupressure, Ventosa, Moxibustion and Reflexology. Those treated came as far as Mountain Province, La Union, Mankayan, Itogon and Baguio. Some call this alternative medicine but that would be a different discussion altogether which I hope to tackle one of these days.

In the turn of the century, I was leading the Upland Development Institute and that was my entry to the world of traditional medicine as a study. We had a project funded by ICCO where our partners organizations trained village folks in traditional Chinese acupuncture and Acupressure as well as the age old Ventosa, herbal medicine and nutrition. We led people in the villages start herbal and sustainable vegetable gardens even before it became a fad.  At that time, we were simply breaking grounds.  We were able to set up barangay health centers with these modalities in various communities like Bagu in Bakun, Magsillay in Pasil, Bekigan in Sadanga, Tiempo in Tubo, Abra and another one in Upland San Gabriel. The community folks choose the people they sent for training because they were the same people who were responsible in setting up the health centers.  At that same time my cousin, the late Constancia Damian, who was then the DSWD-Car point person on the Physically impaired (who we now called the specially abled) were being trained in reflexology, siatsu and other massage techniques. I was exposed to this and ever since has been treated side by side with other modalities. These simply methods are very appropriate for our villages in the Cordillera considering the access to medical care is difficult and rare. This was real to them which I saw when we were doing community development training, we have to climb mountains for hours before we can reach the village like Chananaw, Magsillay, Tulgao, Asingan, Asipulo and Tiempo. We do not find medical centers there because they were found in Bontoc, Tabuk, Bangued and the other centers including Baguio. Medical Missions were rare then and so the community folks resorted to traditional medicine.

To the Igorots, the physical or medical life is intertwined with the Spiritual life thus the traditional doctor is at times an herbalist, seer and a physical therapist (on common day language) they are commonly called men-sip-ok,insup-ok, mumbaki, mambunong and other shaman figures.   The different tribes have intricate rituals in how the healing is conducted and at times ends in a festivity after healing. Some tribes do cleansing ceremonies like the sagawsaw of the Kankanaeys or the Bontok’s mangaswak. However, there are other rituals or fetivities that are observed like the Ikalahan’s laga and padit; the Bontok’s mangmang, mang-manok or chao-es; the Isneg’s Anituwan; and the legleg of the Kankana-eys. There are several other rituals and amulets that the Igorots use in their protection against sickness and ill will.

The last generation have been assimilated and were focused more on the contemporary modern medicine where doctors, nurses, hospitals, medicine and operations were the translations of health care. However, at the changing lifestyle and the onslaught of a lot of cancer deaths, the local people are going back to traditional medicine, herbal and organic food. Unfortunately, the knowledge has been lost to a lot of our people in the Cordillera. We have to go back to our forefathers’ teachings and practices in the dap-ay and in the communities and learn those lost traditional medicine practices.  As my mother would always do when we were young – boil an herb, crush a leaf, mix some unknown soup, speak to the soil and spat on the ground to heal us when we were ill. The future of our people is going back to the basics of illness and healing. (October 19, 2013)