Hilot: The Science of the Ancient Filipino Healing Arts

Hilot is a Filipino healing tradition that spans undocumented ages, passed down from generation to generation by Filipino sages known as Albularyo. For centuries, this knowledge was preserved through practice and lived experience rather than written record.

What is often unknown—even to the Albularyo themselves, and more so to modern readers—is that this age-old wisdom is rooted in science: in universal principles and natural laws that govern the body and the world. Hilot did not emerge from theory, but from observation, repetition, and deep familiarity with the human condition.

This book opens a conversation long overdue. It allows Filipinos to speak about their own healing tradition with clarity and pride, while offering the learned community a framework through which Hilot may be examined with renewed seriousness and respect.

In a modern world increasingly burdened by chronic illness, Hilot presents itself not as folklore, but as a legitimate healing modality—one that stands alongside other established systems of care, refined through time and experience.