From the stretching Thai massage, the stroking/flowing Swedish massage, the Filipino massage is not usually rooted in technique but in "feel" or intuition. The movement appears to be guided by a spiritual sense.
Hilot as the massage is locally known, usually involves the masseuse having a spiritual connection to the divine. Majority of Filipino hilots have this sort of link.
When I was young, my parents use to bring me to Dado, in Barangay Looc. There, other kids, who have ailments, "piang", cough, etc are treated. This is something of an alternative to conventional medicine. Where pills treat the symptoms, the hilot will treat the unseen. Usually a "panuhot" or a "piang" will make a kid sick despite showing healthy in hospital results. There in Dados altar, there are a lot of santos and crucifixes, etc -- religious figurines.
I worked in Cebu for a long time and our neighbor Nay Rosal (Brgy Guadalupe) was also a very good manghililot. Like the other masseuse, she also had a spiritual connection. She says that gift to heal was given by the divine and she follows a strict religious schedule -- from going to church, doing novenas, and having daily prayers to power her massage healing.
Call it divine intervention but today, Feb 21 2026, we tried to visit our old manghihilot which was located somewhere in Sibulan. When we were about to pass the usual road to her residence, it was blocked due to construction. Fortunately, we saw a hilot sign along the road.
We decided to stop and call the number. The masseuse was available.
Meet Mr Simeon Duran. The first time we entered his house, he asked if we were Catholics. We are. He said he prioritizes Catholics as compared to the other faiths. Inside his house is an image of the Baby Jesus -- Sto Nino.
My son Godfrey Luke had been coughing for a few days. We visited a doctor months before and his lungs were clear. We thought this might be a "piang". When he massaged the kid, he said he had a piang -- probably taken during his usual play. The kid is highly active! He advised us not to take cold water often, avoid junk food, when talking a bath the feet needs to be wet first before the head, avoid commercial chicken (prefers bisaya manok).
There were a lot of advices given. In local parlance, this is called "sa mga karaan or mga kinaiyahan", he referred to old practices as still adaptable today.
Me and my wife also had a massage. A lot of stories were shared that day.
We plan to come back soon.
The Filipino massage is more than therapeutic -- it is spiritual.
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