Export potential seen for Phl herbal products

MANILA, Philippines -  Visit a Health Express store and you will find six herbal products there with labels that Filipinos from remote provincial areas might readily understand.

The store has a mostly imported product line. Compared to the high-tech, space-age sounding foreign brands, the herbal labels are traditional — if not unglamorous. They plainly state what they contain - ampalaya, banaba, lagundi, malunggay, pansit-pansitan and sambong.

Centuries-old Filipino medicine meets the 21st century.

To most us, ampalaya (bitter melon) is just another vegetable that we commonly see at the market and take for granted. We know it’s nutritious. But just how good is it for us as our mothers insisted?

Thanks to scientific research, we now have a much clearer picture. Most people might find it surprising. Aside from packing the usual vitamins and nutrients, ampalaya is a preventive remedy for cough, diabetes, diarrhea, fever, gout, headaches, hemorrhoids, high blood pressure, intestinal worms, liver ailments and rheumatism. It enhances the immune system and has antioxidants that helps prevent certain types of cancer.

“Medicinal plants and herbs have been used by our Filipino forefathers for many centuries. This knowledge was passed on from generation to generation,” according to an Internet site Philippine Herbal Medicine. The site lists over two dozen medicinal plants, herbs and fruits.

To this day, Filipinos in the countryside make concoctions from leaves of guava, malunggay and other plants known to have medicinal value. Where modern medicine is beyond reach, people put their trust in local medicine men or albularyo, who use herbs along with chants or prayers. Interestingly, albularyo is derived from the Spanish word herbolario, meaning “herbalist”.

After thorough testing, the Department of Health in 1992, then headed by doctor-turned-senator Juan Flavier, launched the Traditional Health Program. It endorses 10 herbs and plants clinically proven to have medicinal value - the humble ampalaya included.

In 1997, former President Fidel Ramos signed the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act, cementing the program and bringing Filipino traditional medicine into the modern world. The law (R.A. 8423) created the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care, a state-owned corporation under DOH supervision that encourages scientific research on medicinal herbs and plants.

That health department program eventually gave way to Filipino herbals carried by Health Express. Among the top five bestsellers in its 400-product line? Ampalaya and malunggay capsules, according to company president Anna Pascual-Lanning.

In the case of malunggay, it is popularly known to help new mothers produce breast milk. Researchers have also found the tree to be a remedy for headache, high blood pressure, migraine and rheumatism.

What’s striking here is that ampalaya and malunggay are commonly found anywhere in the country. Malunggay trees are in backyards of many Filipino homes. And yet, according to Lanning, most people are still unaware of medicinal herbs and plants.

Lanning finds herself spending considerable time educating people about medicinal plants, just like Filipinos passed on the knowledge from generation to generation.

Take sambong. Did you know that it has been found to dissolve gall bladder stones and treat kidney disorders?

Lanning cites her own experience several years ago before she put up Health Express after quitting her job as a Wall Street banker in New York in 2001. “Is there a market for that,” she recalls asking her father, Dr. Abraham Pascual, chairman of Pascual Laboratories, when he was looking into making lagundi capsules.

Lanning is proud of the fact that the herbal products are locally made by Pascual Laboratories and Leoni Agri Corp., emphasizing their export potential and contribution to the domestic economy, especially with the resurgence of patriotism among the younger generation.

“Why are you promoting Filipino herbals,” Lanning remembers asking her father, whose sense of patriotism and service became part of her company’s philosophy. “He said, ‘Love your own. We have potential. We are rich in natural resources and we’re not even using it.’”

That is a boon to environmentalists like Nelson Pampolina, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ College of Forestry and Natural Resources at Los Baños, Laguna. His concern is saving the Philippines’ remaining forests. Public awareness about medicinal plants will encourage individuals to get involved in forest conservation and protection.

“Conservation means a wise utilization of forest resources in a sustainable manner to ensure resources for future generations,” says Pampolina, whose job often takes him up nearby Mount Makiling.

His more urgent dilemma, however, is getting high school graduates interested in forestry because they want college courses that can easily earn them money. “We are an endangered specie.”

Lanning’s vision is to make natural food supplements available to Filipinos and trying to teach people how to be healthy. “You don’t sell products because you want to make money. You do it because you believe that it will make people healthy.”