A card game called “Herbularyo” bridges Filipino medicinal plants and science education, transforming folk healing traditions into organic chemistry lessons for a new generation.
Medicinal plants have long been a cornerstone of Philippine traditional medicine, dating back generations. Tawa-tawa (asthma-plant), a low-growing herb thriving in open grasslands, serves as a valued supplementary treatment for dengue. The gel of succulent pansit-pansitan (pepper elder or shiny bush) eases joint pains and gout; boiled guava leaves disinfect wounds; tea from yerba buena relieves minor aches and pains; and ampalaya (bitter gourd) helps manage diabetes. These remedies have long formed part of the albularyo’s, or a Filipino folk healer’s toolkit, passed down through oral tradition rather than textbooks.
Researchers from Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Chemistry and Health Sciences Program recognized a gap worth addressing: while the remedies remained familiar to Filipino families, the underlying chemistry rarely reached science classrooms. Their response connects Filipino medicinal plants and science education through “Herbularyo,” an educational card game that brings herbal traditions into organic chemistry lessons.
Inspired by albularyo traditions, the game incorporates familiar Filipino cultural concepts into its mechanics. Each player takes on the role of a traditional healer racing to cure illnesses using cards featuring medicinal herbs and their active compounds. Special cards drawing from binat (relapse), sumpa (curse), and himala (miracle) add strategic depth while reflecting beliefs deeply embedded within Philippine folk healing traditions.
As gameplay progresses, players match herbs with illnesses while identifying the organic compounds found within each plant. This structure ties Filipino medicinal plants and science education together through interactive matching rather than rote memorization, reinforcing organic chemistry concepts through play rather than textbook repetition.
Every plant featured in “Herbularyo” was drawn from the Encyclopedia of Common Medicinal Plants of the Philippines, Volume 1, a reference published through a project funded by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care. The encyclopedia documents medicinal plants commonly used throughout the Philippines, along with scientific evidence supporting their therapeutic properties. Ateneo chemists Dr. Fabian M. Dayrit and Dr. Rene Angelo Macahig served as editors of the volume, helping bridge traditional knowledge with modern scientific research that now anchors the card game’s content.
Classroom testing with high school and college students demonstrated that integrating Filipino medicinal plants into science education through gameplay yields measurable results. Students who played Herbularyo showed significantly greater learning gains than those in conventional instruction, and described the experience as engaging and enjoyable rather than tedious.
Classroom testing showed that students who connected Filipino medicinal plants and science education through “Herbularyo” achieved significantly greater learning gains than those with conventional instruction, and the game’s developers designed it to demonstrate how traditional healing knowledge and organic chemistry inform each other. Photo courtesy of Ateneo de Manila University.
“Herbularyo” makes chemistry feel less distant and more connected to everyday life, a deliberate choice by its makers. Co-developer Maryjane Magsino explained that the team wanted to build a game that not only teaches organic chemistry and Filipino traditions separately but also demonstrates how these areas of knowledge inform each other. The developers aimed to underscore the value of traditional Filipino medicine, which has withstood scientific testing while remaining readily accessible in ordinary backyards.
Herbal medicine continues to play an important role in traditional and alternative healthcare for many Filipinos, particularly in rural and underserved communities, where traditional remedies complement conventional medicine rather than replace it entirely. This ongoing relevance strengthens the case for connecting Filipino medicinal plants and science education, since students already carry cultural familiarity with these remedies before ever encountering formal chemistry instruction.
Through “Herbularyo,” researchers demonstrate that meaningful science education can begin with what students already know rather than starting from unfamiliar abstraction. Sometimes learning begins with the plants growing in a family’s backyard or the remedies found in a household spice rack, making complex organic chemistry concepts accessible through cultural touchpoints students recognize immediately.
By uncovering the chemistry behind familiar medicinal plants, Filipino medicinal plants and science education converge to make organic chemistry more accessible while encouraging a new generation to recognize the value of medicinal knowledge long embedded in Filipino life. The approach also has the potential to make supplementary and complementary medical remedies more accessible and scientifically credible to wider audiences.
The research team, including Maryjane T. Magsino, Inah Marie Q. Rivera, Armando M. Guidote Jr., and Genejane M. Adarlo, published their findings on “Herbularyo” in the May 2026 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education, positioning the game within peer-reviewed science education literature rather than treating it as a casual classroom novelty.
Filipino medicinal plants and science education, brought together through five to ten minutes of gameplay, illustrate a broader principle applicable well beyond the Philippines: cultural knowledge systems developed through generations of lived experience often contain scientific validity waiting to be formally recognized. “Herbularyo” doesn’t simply teach chemistry using plants as an illustration. It validates traditional healing knowledge as legitimate science, deserving classroom study rather than dismissal as mere folklore.
