Traditional Medicine in the Colonial Philippines, 16th to the 19th Century by MA. Mercedes G. Planta (review)

In Philippine historiography, only in the past few decades have various aspects of the social history of the Spanish colonial period garnered a wider and deeper scholarly introspection. Ma. Mercedes G. Planta's Traditional Medicine in the Colonial Philippines, 16th to the 19th Century is one of the latest works that have turned toward this direction to give a more objective and nuanced analysis, devoid of the traditional anticolonial-cum-nationalistic bias that has pervaded the historiographic landscape. The book is a valuable contribution to the history of medicine in the Philippines, an area of study in which there is still limited knowledge. It is the newest addition to the short list of works in this subfield, following Jose P. Bantug's A Short History of Medicine in the Philippines during the Spanish Regime, 1565–1898 (Colegio Medico-Farmaceutico de Filipinas, 1953), Enrico GR. Azicate's master's thesis, "History of Medicine in the Philippines: A Historical Perspective" (University of the Philippines, 1998), and Ken de Bevoise's Agents of Apocalypse: Epidemic Disease in the Colonial Philippines (New Day, 1995). With the addition of Planta's work, historical knowledge on medicine during the Spanish colonial period is further explored through the context of traditional medicine.

In her foreword Milagros Guerrero narrates a personal experience of presenting a paper on traditional medicine in a workshop organized by then Secretary of Health Juan Flavier at the Development Academy of the Philippines in 1991. Guerrero relates that her audience in that workshop included traditional healers who responded positively to the translated Spanish-era pharmacopeia she presented. She then describes the complex and problematic dynamics of the traditional medicine market in Quiapo in recent years. Thus, this foreword provides the sociocultural background that introduces the relevance of Planta's study, as it emphasizes traditional medicine during colonial times.

In her introduction Planta presents a medical-anthropological framework, based on the works of Michael L. Tan and David Landy, which views traditional medicine as a sociocultural product arising from how early communities addressed health and illness based on their specific cultural and environmental perspectives. This framework is foundational in developing the key concept of plural traditions, which posits that Philippine medical systems are a combination of different traditions—local, Asian, and Western—and thereby foregrounds the diversity and complexity of traditional medicine in the colonial Philippines. Hence, Planta's work is not a mere enumeration of medications and practices, but rather an in-depth ethnographic and historical analysis of the interplay of medical traditions that developed in the country. She explains that traditional medicine in the Philippines evolved due to its extensive use by the local population throughout the Spanish colonial period and the scientific investigations conducted by European botanists. At present, a combination of traditional and Western medicine has emerged, as seen in the behavior and practices of contemporary Filipinos in relation to health and illness.

The book is divided in three parts, each composed of several chapters: (1) Filipino concepts of healing, which includes early lists of local pharmacopeia; (2) Spanish state-sponsored attempts to study Philippine botanical plants; and (3) the gradual integration of traditional medicine into the colonial public health system. The first chapter explores the diversity of medical systems in the archipelago, which include indigenous frameworks, Chinese influences, and European concepts. In the second chapter, Planta analyzes Francisco Ignacio Alcina's detailed accounts, as lifted from "Breve Resumen de las Races" in Historia de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas (UST Publishing House, 2002). Alcina's work is a detailed early missionary account that catalogued local uses of traditional herbs for medical and nonmedical purposes. Although the author could have presented other works on botanical and pharmaceutical research by Spanish religious orders, the use of Alcina's account is enough for readers to catch a glimpse of what the early inhabitants in the islands used as medicine. In...