Health
Faith Healers
Philippine tabloids exploit the superstitiousness of the Philippine populace by running stories on miracles allegedly performed by faith healers. One of the tabloids, People's Tonight, published a number of articles by its reporter Roger Macanaya on female faith healer Baby Santos. May 29, 1989, he wrote:
"The psychic healer from Nueva Ecija who successfully took out a pin and a needle from a girl's arm late last week (See Tonight. May 27 1989) was very much applauded yesterday by a jampacked crowd, including the video crew of TV personality Inday Badiday when she was able to remove another broken safety pin from the girl's left wrist. Baby Santos, who claims she is possessed with the spirits of Sto. Nino and is guided in her work as a healer and a fortune-teller by King Paraon, alleged leader of dwarfs and a fairy named Reyna Bendigoza, also removed a bronze ring from the breast of a woman engineer and the other half of the pin taken from Daisy Portillas, from the navel of Visayan patient at the residence of former Vice Mayor Abner Gener of Norzagaray, Bulacan, on 84 Anahaw St., Veterans Village Q.C.
Or on June 14, 1989:"
"A strange, three-inch, rusty and bended nail was extracted by the mystery healer from Nueva Ecija from the head of a 16-year-old boy whose ailment was diagnosed by doctors as acute leukemia, in his shack beside the railroad tracks in Malinta, Valenzuela, Bulacan, over the weekend. Watched by his parents, as well as curious neighbors who crowded their small shack, healer Baby Santos first checked the ears of young patient Ronnel Macadaeg. Ronnel complained that he was hearing irritating sounds in both his ears. Baby asked for a match stick. After wrapping its end with a piece of cotton, she inserted the match stick into one ear of Ronnel, then into the other. The curious watchers were shocked when pieces of hard mud oozed out.
Earlier, at about noon of the same day, Ronnel was one of the patients at the Lingao Social Hall on 177 Tolentino St., Barangay San Antonio, San Francisco Del Monte, QC, where Baby heals every Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. When his mother said that Ronnel was hearing sounds in his left ear, Baby checked his pulse and told this writer that her guide, King Paraon, alleged dwarf's chief, was instructing her to treat Ronnel at the patient's own residence.
After extracting pieces of hard mud from both ears of Ronnel, Baby began massaging his head and asked the boy if he had experienced severe headaches... In a little while, Baby exclaimed, 'Eto na. Diyos ko, ano ba ito! ' (That's it. My God, what is it!) Then she asked this writer to help her out. When I held the mysterious object and separated the hair of Ronnel to get a clearer view, I was aghast... With all my might and trusting in the power of the Almighty through His medium Baby, I managed to pull it a little bit but it suddenly got stuck, as if an unseen evil doer was trying to pull it back inside Ronnel's head... Finally I was able to pull it out and we all saw that the rusty, three-inch nail was bended near the edge, making extraction extremely difficult. Baby herself sighed and collapsed, as if she had consumed all her energy in supervising the difficult task."
And on August 7, 1989:
"A petite bold star who has supposedly been diagnosed positively by gynecologists as pregnant, subjected herself for treatment the other day along with hundreds of patients at the Simeon Compound in Project 6, Quezon City where stones, fats and weeds are plucked out from her womb by the mystery healer from Nueva Ecija... Her mom Josie Mance 40, averred that she has brought Pepsi to four gynecologists, two in Binan, and one each in Calamba and Los Banos, who gave all positive diagnosis after examining her urine. Baby Santos, who is revered by many, including co-healers and medical doctors, some of whom are her patients, explained that, indeed, Paloma is not pregnant."
Finally, on August 22, 1989:
"Three Arabians and a Lebanese couple whose traditions do not allow them to believe in witches, dwarfs and ghouls, are apt to change their minds after the mystery healer from Nueva Ecija performed bloodless operations on them, healing them of their seemingly incurable afflictions over the weekend. Through an interpreter, Ali Saed Rizik, 35, male nurse of Mastura Tarib, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, told Tonight that for three years he had spent thousands of dollars travelling all over the world, looking for medical experts who could rid him of severe pains in his stomach and knees, but to no avail.
Ali also said that the pains he experienced were so severe that it was impossible for him to make love. He added that he never thought that he and his son Yousef, who could hardly raise his right hand and move his foot due to a strange fall from their stairs four years ago, could be healed in the Philippines. Elvin Pingol, who brought Ali and Yousef to healing places at Mindanao Ave. beside the bridge in Project 6, Quezon City, said that after just two treatments at the cozy clinic wherein Sister Baby took out tiny stones, chips of wood and lots of sand from the father and son, the duo felt they were on the way to perfect recovery...
To show his appreciation, Ali invited Sister Baby and this writer to visit Saudi Arabia, all expenses paid by him and to treat some of his relatives and friends who are suffering from similarly puzzling illnesses. After the second session Ali's interpreter named Jette, asked him if he could now perform sexual intercourse. Raising his eyebrows, Ali broke out into a naughty grin."
After the above quoted column of George Nava True appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a lively debate ensued on the topic. In an answer to a letter writer who defended psychic surgeons, George Nava True wrote in his column 'Health Frontiers' in the Inquirer November 14, 1989:
"'Quacks are quick to claim that they are being persecuted by the medical community because their cures will cut into the incomes doctors make by keeping people sick,' according to Paul Insel and Walton Roth in their book, 'Core Concepts in Health'. But what these misinformed victims don't know is that quackery is a billion dollar industry that is much bigger than the 'medical hierarchy' you speak of. The US Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, which has investigated many bogus cures and remedies, said quacks earn at least $10 billion a year.
'Phony cancer cures constitute the largest share of such frauds, accounting for $4 to $5 billion a year. Questionable arthritis cures now cost the nation $2 billion a year and anti-aging remedies probably meet or exceed that total. These amounts dwarf amounts spent for legitimate research,' it said."
George Nava True's criticism of psychic surgery provoked another Inquirer columnist, Jaime T. Licauco, to reply. In his column, Inner Mind, he wrote November 30, 1989:
"Other serious foreign scientists and parapsychologists had observed our psychic surgeons and declared them to be genuine. Among them were Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and Dr. Nagato Azuma of Japan, Dr. Hans Naegeli of Switzerland, Engr. Dr. Schiebler of Germany, Dr. Lee Pulos of Canada, Dr. Pedro Romaniok of Argentina, Dr. Janine Fontaine Mirabel of France and Dr. George Meek of the USA. All the above scientists and researchers did their homework.
They collected specimens, had these analyzed, interviewed countless patients and took photographs and video films of operations. They were no armchair philosophers talking through their hats, like most others who merely quote the works of other authors. These people knew what they were talking about from first-hand experience.
So, who would you rather believe? Having said that, I hasten to add that I agree completely with a recent critic when he warned people against these faith healers and psychic surgeons -- not all of them are genuine... But to say that psychic surgery is completely false without having seen one, and not back it up with evidence, is a betrayal of logic and smacks of demagoguery. Incidentally, the title of one of my three books on psychic surgery and faith healing which has been translated into eight foreign languages, is 'The Truth Behind Faith Healing in the Philippines.' That's the real truth."
December 16, 1989, George Nava True II replied:
"I wouldn't be surprised if some questionable doctors and parapsychologist support psychic surgery -- the same way quacks in white coats support iridology, naturopathy and megavitamin therapy. The US Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, which has extensively investigated psychic surgery and classified it as a cruel health hoax, said that the presence of a doctor shouldn't be the basis for judging the efficacy of a certain therapy or cure. 'There are hundreds of clinics... which specialize in unproven remedies, others offer them in conjunction with legitimate and more conservative medical practice. Some clinics are run by well-educated practitioners and some by outright charlatans.
It is very difficult to generalize except in one thing: this is big business. Millions of dollars every day are taken in by these clinics. The operation of some of them has been investigated and exposed. Many flout the law,' the committee said... Robert Jahn, dean of Princeton's School of Engineering said, 'I am aware of no reputable investigator who has claimed, let alone demonstrated, any psychic experiment approaching classical scientific replicability.' Laurence E. Gadd and the editors of
The World Almanac add, 'Because most instances of psychic surgery have taken place in backward regions... there is no scientific proof that (it) works or even is a genuine phenomenon. The medical establishment does not endorse the practice, nor do parapsychologists support the procedure. Anyone who submits to psychic surgery does so at his or her own risk."
Aside from those who call themselves faith healers and apply methods regarded as sensational, there are many old women in barrios knowledgeable in primitive methods of health care and cure of illnesses. Generally they are referred to as hilots. They deliver babies and use massages in the treatment of diseases or injury. They learn their healing techniques from elders and develop their skills through practice. Some hilots, however, claim to have acquired their abilities through the intercession of spirits and gods.
Going to the hilot for treatment is the cheapest medical attention available to the poor. Hilots who abound in rural areas ordinarily do not charge fees. Some donations, however, are expected from patients who can afford them.
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