In cooperation with the Confucius Institute of Ateneo de Manila University, the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies held a webinar on “Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): Healthy Lifestyle in COVID Pandemic Crisis” on 1 August 2020. The organizers invited two speakers to talk about TCM and a healthy lifestyle to prevent and overcome COVID-19 infections.

Dr. Li Min, the deputy dean of the College of Acupuncture and Rehabilitation of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, discussed the TCM Lifestyle in COVID Crisis. She discussed some principles of TCM and its applications in China according to the country’s four weather seasons. She also described TCM applications in hot weather like in the Philippines.

The other speaker was Dr. Alfonso Lagaya. Former Director-General of the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) of the Department of Health (DOH). He talked on Public Health Advocacy in Natural Healthy Lifestyle in Preventing COVID-19 Infection During the Hot Philippine Climate. Dr. Lagaya also suggested some healthful tips on how to prevent COVID-19 infections. He stressed the need for regular exercise and the importance of eating vegetables to remain healthy. He also demonstrated how to apply acupuncture to identify an illness in our body.

Around 140 participants from the Philippines, China, and abroad attended the webinar. Philippine Ambassador to China, His Excellency Jose Santiago “Chito” Sta. Romana also attended the event.

PACS President, Dr. Rommel Banlaoi, gave his opening remarks where he stressed the importance of TCM in preventing diseases. He stressed, “Traditional Chinese Medicine practiced by the Chinese people for over 3,500 years can offer Filipinos a variety of options to pursue a naturally healthy lifestyle in this time of the pandemic under a hot Philippine climate.” He also emphasized, “The pandemic has brought to us a new normal situation that we need to bear and overcome. This new normal situation also calls for the adoption of a new normal lifestyle that can boost our natural immune capacity to face the pandemic.”

Dr. Ellen Palanca, Philippine Director of the Confucius Institute at Ateneo de Manila University, delivered her closing remarks. She thanked the speakers for their useful presentations and also thanked the attendees for their engaging questions. She also thanked PACS for helping set-up the webinar. She also thanked Dr. Guanghan Liang, the Chinese Director of CI, and Dr. Tan Cho Chiong, member of the PACS Board of Directors, for their joint efforts to organize the webinar and inviting the two speakers. Dr. Palanca concluded that through people-to-people exchanges like this webinar, there could be effective transfer of knowledge on TCM in order to have exchanges of good practices on healthy lifestyles not only from China to the Philippines but also from the Philippines to China.