MANILA, Feb. 4, 2015 — The pain-healing mission team organized by an Antipolo home for the aged visited on Jan. 29 an ethnic community thriving in a mountainous section of Southern Tagalog.
Harnessing the natural and safe curative power of magnesium, Kanlungan ni Maria provided free transdermal magnesium therapy to 107 Dumagats in Tanay, said Victoria Baterina-Solis, Kanlungan special project director.
Kanlungan ni Maria priest-in-charge Fr. Dari Diquino (in a Mercy and Compassion shirt) cheers with Dumagats at a chapel in a mountainous section of Tanay. (Photo: Kanlungan ni Maria)
The recipients included Dumagat seniors, teens, and children, who gathered at a chapel to receive the free therapy and bottles of magnesium, she said.
Magnesium deficiency
According to Kanlungan ni Maria priest-in-charge Fr. Dari Dioquino, the residents complained of muscle cramps, arthritis, back pain, frozen shoulder, and gout, among others.
Unlike their recent pain healing missions in the Rizal towns of Pililia, Jalajala, and Cainta, Dumagat women were found suffering from hyperacidity due to chronic skipping of meals.
Most body pains are related to magnesium deficiency, said Mary Jean Netario Cruz, who is recognized by many as the country’s leading magnesium advocate.
When the body is depleted of magnesium due to poor diet and an unhealthy lifestyle characterized by excessive caffeine and alcohol intake, overwork, and extended pharmaceutical drug use, pain sets in, explained Netario Cruz, who is also Kanlungan’s wellness program director.
Pain can be addressed by the repletion of the mineral either through the skin or orally, she said.
Livelihood
Since the Dumagats’ staples are kamote (sweet potato) and corn, the group brought the community eight sacks of rice and planting materials, shared Baterina-Solis.
The tribe’s agriculture relies on rainfall for water, she noted.
According to Baterina-Solis, the Dumagats’ main sources of livelihood are production of sawali (woven bamboo splits), livestock production, and processing tree branches into charcoal.
During the encounter, the locals were also trained on livelihood and the protection of drinking water sources.
Mountrain trail
Netario Cruz, Baterina-Solis, Nida Cabrera and Cupido Angeles, who is a care-giver at Kanlungan, conducted the transdermal therapy themselves.
The pain-healing team, together with Berlito P. Bati Jr. from the Tanay Mayor’s Office, and Danilyn Cabrera traversed a mountain trail for an hour to reach the said community.
It was the first time the Dumagats in Tanay were visited by an outreach team, revealed Baterina-Solis. Previously, they were always asked to go down the mountain to receive free services and goods downtown.
The Dumagats, who are Roman Catholics, celebrate Mass with a priest only once in a year during their fiesta, she said. (Oliver Samson/CBCPNews)
