SIQUIJOR BECKONS WITH MAGICAL MEDICINES
SIQUIJOR – Filipinos know siquijor as the mystic island.
The Spaniards who colonized the archipelago more than 300 years ago called it Isla Del Fuego (island of Fire) because of the eerie glow cast by millions of fireflies that swarmed around the molave trees at night.
Feared by many Filipinos for its sorcerers, known locally as “mambabarangs.” The
island has also earned a reputation for the apparently incredible powers of its local healers, or “mananambals”.
A 30 minute ferry ride from Dumaguete City on Central Negros Island, the tiny, pristine island skirted by white beaches and surrounded by clear blue water has become a major draw card for believers and the curious alike.
Among Siquijor’s better known clients is said to be Imelda Marcos, the former first lady and widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Locals tell of how a curse was put on her in the 1970’s during the building of the San Juanico Bridge that connects the central islands of Samar and Leyte and which was a pet project of the late dictator.
The story goes that a mermaid was injured during the construction work and in retaliation Imelda was curse with spell that made scales grow on her legs.
Imelda sent a helicopter from the presidential palace in manila to fetch a powerful Siquijor healer called Boscia Bulongon, who cured her and was paid handsomely.
Bulongon returned to the island and buried the
money but about two decades later was beaten to death by her grandson because she refused to give him the money. Locals say he used a piece of wood to kill her because the woman was invulnerable to bullets and knives.
From the rich and famous to the curious, Siquijor is attracting Filipinos and foreigners – specially around Easter for what commonly referred to as the witches festival when people
buy potions for everything from improving their sex life to curing terminal illnesses.
The healers begin collecting the herbs, plants and sea creatures that go into their
Potion each Friday after ash Wednesday, 40 days before Good Friday.
On Good Friday they will have gathered everything they need to make potions for the coming year. And on Saturday they start to chop and mix the ingredients. Nothing will be collected again until Ash Wednesday the following year.
While the Philippines is majority Catholic, it remains a mystery why the rituals of a craft often associated with the darker arts should be so closely linked to Christian tradition
“The process of making potion is tied in with the resurrection of Christ. It’s a rebirth of power,” explained Pedro “Endoy” Tumapon, a respected local herbalist who, at 80, is still fit and has customers from all over the Philippines who buy his herbal medicines.
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