Ka Berting: The Healer from Cardona, Rizal

He looks like any ordinary middle-aged man one sees while passing a provincial road, perhaps cradling a cock, sitting in front of a variety store or waiting for a ride.  He is dark, his face’s character accentuated by lines wrought by time and experience.  His hair, though close-cropped, give a hint that it is wavy.  On his neck hangs several pendants, some made of wood, some metal.

            As he warms up to the interview, the storyteller emerges and casts a spell on his listeners.  His rich voice reminds one of the days when serenading a woman with kundiman was still practiced.  His Cardona accent adds to the flavor of his exposition.  He needs very little prodding.  Then he opens the doors to another kind of understanding and perspective.  And on top of that, he has a good sense of humor.

            Born in 1939 in Barrio Malabon, Biñan, Laguna, Ka Berting claims to come from a family who believes in and is known for anting-anting; in his words, mahilig.  He reached grade 3, married at 17 and started learning how to heal at 18.  He and his wife settled in Kuhala, Caronda, Rizal, where they raised a large family.  “Ang  buhay, wawalo, pero sila sa tao, 14 yata,” was his way of saying they had 14 children but only eight are living.

            The family’s concrete bungalow sits on a spacious lot on the shares of Laguna Bay.  The house, the says proudly, was built through the help of his daughter who now resides in Japan with her Japanese husband.  In the yard are cocks which he breeds for sale and for occasional cockfight matches.  A newly made small fishing boat is dry-docked at the back of the house which faces the bay.

            Ka Berting recounts that he learned to heal not so much because of family tradition or inclination, but because of necessity.  When the children were small and  sick, he could not bring them to the health center or doctor because the nearest ride was two kilometers away.  Then, too, they were poor and could not afford medical care and had to depend on the neighborhood albularyo (folk healer).  He thought: why not learn how to heal?

            He started with learning how to perform tawas.  From a book libro ng kasikretuhan, given to him by his grandfather, he discovered other techniques.  There were also other mystical books which he acquired and studied.  Like relatives before him, he was attracted to finding and collecting anting-anting and the oracion that went with these.  Eventually he took to inviting people who share his interest and they held tupadas at his place during good Fridays.  Tupada means cockfight, but the tupadas ka Berting and others held were a demonstration (payabangan) of what they knew and the “power” of the objects.  The events also became venues for exchange of knowledge and techniques.

            Ka Berting considers himself an all-around specialist (espesyalista sa lahat ng bagay).  Explaining the contradiction, he said that the mystical meaning (kahulugan sa lihim) of arbularyo is intermediary (tagapamagitan) between God and man.

            Belief, faith, is necessary for healing.  All religious teach the same thing.  A baptized Roman Catholic, Ka Berting believes that religious are but different paths; in his own words, “kanya-kanyang daan, iisa ang tinatarget.”  Petitions or requests for healing should be preceded by prayer to Jesus Christ and the admission of sins.  He likens it to washing up before sitting down to eat a meal.

            A person also has the ability to facilitate his/her recovery from illness.  Ka Berting admits that he heard this from Johnny Midnight in the latter’s programs over DWOO.  If the person believes s/he will not be healed, there will be no relief.  He respects the old adage “help yourself and the One above will help you.”

            Ka Berting thinks that 75% of diseases today are due to the chemicals in foods such as preservatives which weaken the digestive system.  The “garbage” circulates in the blood as poison and any weak part of the body is affected.  Anything in excess is bad.  Though he believes in and has encountered cases of kulam he says it is ineffective (hindi kumakapit) if the person has healthy mind and body.

            Using a pendulum, taking pulses and reading impressions on paper like x-ray are Ka Berting’s methods of diagnosis.  His pendant serves as a pendulum.  He cites an example.  If a person comes to him, he consults the spirits by using the pendulum.  He recites an appropriate oracion and asks: “Santa Misericordia, Inang Mater, ako po’y magtatanong sa inyo.  Ire po ba sa inyong kapangyarihan e puede pang bigyan ng lunas ang karamdaman?”  The direction in which the pendulum moves gives an answer to the question of whether the illness of the person can still be cured:  clockwise means “yes” and counter-clockwise means “no”.

            Like his friend, Boy Fajardo, Ka Berting determine the organ of origin of the illness through pulsebeats.  He employs the same method:  three fingers of one hand on the patient’s wrist and two fingers of another between the patient’s pointer and thumb.

            Another diagnostic procedure is placing a piece of white bond paper, about two inches by three inches, on the person’s forehead.  He says a specific oracion and after about two to three minutes, reads the “impressions” against the light, like one does to an x-ray film.

             Treatment depends on the diagnosis.  These range from herbs to drink or apply to hilot and exorcism (tigalpo).

            Ka Berting does not believe that the ability to heal is bestowed on a few or is it an innate talent (likas).  Everyone has the capacity to heal, but the most important thing is the purpose in learning to heal.  It can be used for the good of others or for selfish motives.  This is the reason why, he says, he does not charge for his services.  Sometimes, especially during mealtimes, he serves patients food and drinks even if some come to him with a jeepney-load of companions.  For this, his friends criticize him, but he reasons that he is compensated in some other ways.

            Ka Berting thinks that doctors and healers should not criticize each other (sana, walang siraan).  He has had the occasion of advising  patients to go to a doctor for treatment especially those which he thinks are psychiatric cases, and those who need prescribed medicines.  However, there were times when a town physician referred patients to him, cases which the doctor thinks have non-physical causes like kulam and napaglaruan ng engkanto o duwende, o nasapian ng masamang espirito.  Then he performs tigalpo.

            An  almost equal number of men and women come to him for treatment (kunsulta), but among women, the most common ailments have something to do with pasma or nalamigan brought about the practice of taking a bath even when menstruating.  It is easy to find out, he explained.  The woman’s hands and feet are cold.  He repeats the counsel of old folks not to bathe or wash the feet when menstruating.   The reason is that if at that time a woman’s resistance is weak, she is prone to illness.

            A woman who have just given birth and has pasma is treated with saklob.   She is massaged on the lumbar area and then made to sit on a chair with a big hole on the seat while hot water is placed below, the steam directed by a mat or any material.  A cloth soaked in cold water is tied around her forehead to prevent the heat from going to the head.  It is a form of steam bath to make the woman perspire and in the process eliminate “pasma”.

            Ka Berting is not a full-time healer (kung may dumating lang) and laughing, adds that he is fond of going out (malayas).  He also goes to the Union Adoradores Christianos al Espiritu de Vino (UNACAED) center, also in Cardona.  Like other members, he makes it a point to make pilgrimages to Mt. Banahaw.