Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, Vol. 4, No.1, February 2016 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 51 P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com Unveiling Cebuano Traditional Healing Practices ZachiaRaiza Joy S. Berdon 1 , Edheliza L. Ragosta 2 , Reynaldo B. Inocian 3 , Creezz A. Manalag 4 , Elena B. Lozano 1 zachiaj@yahoo.com, 2 ragosta.edheliza@gmail.com, 3 inocian03@yahoo.com, 4 manalag.creezz@gmail.com Date Received: February 11, 2016; Date Revised: February 5, 2016 Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Vol. 4 No.1, 51-59 February 2016 P-ISSN 2350-7756 E-ISSN 2350-8442 www.apjmr.com Abstract - This study aims to identify the features of Cebuano’s traditional healing practices. Specifically, it also answers the following objectives: analyze traditional healing in Cebuano’s perspectives, explain the traditional healing process practiced in terms of the traditional healers’ belief, and extrapolate perceptions of medical practitioners toward traditional healing. This study made use of qualitative approach, among five traditional healers who performed healing for not less than ten years, in the mountain barangays of Cebu City. These healers served as the primary informants who were selected because of their popularity in healing. The use of open-ended interview in local dialect and naturalistic observation provided a free listing of their verbatim accounts were noted and as primary narratives. Participation in the study was voluntary and participants were interviewed privately after obtaining their consent. The Cebuano traditional healing practices or “panambal” comprise the use of “himolso” (pulse-checking), “palakaw” (petition), “pasubay” (determining what causes the sickness and its possible means of healing), “pangalap” (searching) of medicinal plants for “palina” (fumigation), “tayhop” (gentle-blowing), “tutho” (saliva-blowing),“tuob” (boiling), “orasyon” (mystical prayers), “hilot” (massage), and “barang” (sorcery). Though traditional with medical science disapproval, it contributes to a mystical identity of Cebuano healers, as a manifestation of folk Catholicism belief, in order to do a good legacy to the community that needs help. For further study, researchers may conduct further the studies on the: curative effects of medicinal plants in Cebu, psychological effect pulse- checking healed persons by the mananambal, and unmasking the other features of traditional healing. Keywords: mananambal, traditional healing, animism, Folk Catholicism INTRODUCTION The existence of traditional healing dates back from 14,000 centuries B.C., until Chinese, Graeco- Arabic and western countries start using traditional medicines. It is the oldest form of structured healing, which is practiced with basic set of tenets [1]. Before modern medicines have been introduced by this kind of practice in the Philippines, our early ancestors have engaged in traditional healing. According to Del Fierro and Nolasco, a traditional healer in Cebuano society is called mananambal. A mananambal is a local medicinal doctor who resorts to indigenous means of treating patients who are in pain or have been long suffering from various forms of illness caused by supernatural factors [2]. The appellation mananambal is a derivative of the term for the art of panambal or traditional folk healing in the Philippines. Those families of known mananambal, with reputation to heal a lot of diseases are known as group of tambalan [3]. But as time passes by, that kind of belief or practice is already slowly diminishing. Brought by modernity, new inventions in medicine, many people rely more on professional medical practitioners who use science or modern medicine to cure diseases. Hitherto, despite the extensiveness, power, and capacity of modern medical science, large portion of our human population can never avail its benefits, because of their impoverished economic situation. At the turn of the century, traditional medicine is practiced among the poor communities in rural villages. The healthcare needs of the Philippines is associated to power and capacity, because only the rich can avail to modern hospital facilities, while the poor is part of an estimated 50%, who rely on the use of folk healing [4]. Our interest and curiosity about how traditional healers help patients to be cured, in any common disease drives the conduct to do this research. This study aims to find out different features of a Cebuano‟s traditional healing practices, and wants to discover different healing treatments or procedures done by the mananambal. The mananambal may utilize wide