For generations, Siquijor has carried a reputation that came long before its image as a tropical beach destination: the "island of witches", the "island of black magic". People on neighbouring islands used to say you did not go there without a reason, and that those who lived there held powers not to be taken lightly. Behind this folklore lies something far richer and far more worth knowing: a living tradition of folk medicine, carried by healers known as mananambal.
Who are the mananambal?
A mananambal is neither a storybook sorcerer nor a charlatan. He or she is a practitioner, often elderly, who holds knowledge passed down orally from generation to generation, combining medicinal plants, prayer rituals and care of the body and spirit. Some are known for treating physical ailments with local herbal decoctions, others for more spiritual practices, meant to lift a curse or ease a suffering that conventional medicine cannot explain. The tradition has its roots in a typically Filipino blend of pre-Hispanic animist beliefs and the Catholicism brought by Spanish colonisation, which for a long time equated these practices with witchcraft and helped build the island's dark legend.
The Healing Festival, a one-of-a-kind gathering
Every year during Holy Week, Siquijor runs against the rhythm of the rest of the Catholic country. While the Philippines commemorates the Passion of Christ, the island's healers gather at the foot of Mount Bandilaan, in the municipality of San Juan, to prepare their yearly remedies. From Holy Wednesday they head into the forest to gather roots, bark, leaves and sometimes insects, in a ritual called tang-alap. The ingredients are then mixed, blessed with prayer, and made into oils and ointments believed to protect and heal through the coming year. The Healing Festival draws visitors from across the country, curious to witness a tradition that is not repeated on this scale anywhere else in the Philippines.
Myth or reality?
Perhaps the question is better put another way: do we really have to choose? The folklore of the island of black magic has long served as a warning as much as a tourist draw, fed by exaggerated stories. The reality is calmer and more beautiful: a community that has kept an ancestral relationship with plants, the body and the sacred, at a time when this kind of knowledge is disappearing elsewhere. People in Siquijor themselves are not fearful of their healers: many turn to them for simple remedies, much as you might visit a pharmacist.
For travellers curious to go beyond the surface folklore, a quick photo with a mananambal is not enough to understand this culture. As part of its Mystical tour, SiquijorBestOf arranges a guided meeting with a local healer, a chance to talk with respect about the tradition rather than just fly past it, with an English-speaking guide who bridges the words and their meaning.
Keep planning: our full guides to things to do in Siquijor and where to stay in Siquijor, with every address on the island sorted by area.