Highlights of Health and Wellness Conference and Expo (HWONFEX 2025)

The previous years were quite challenging for our family as we dealt with health concerns. If we are friends on social media, you've probably seen my posts about my late sister-in-law who passed away due to metastatic breast cancer. Since her diagnosis, I became more interested in naturopathy, natural healing and integrative medicine. I enjoy attending and participating in health and wellness fairs and activities. 

The most recent that I attended is the Health and Wellness Conference and Expo (HWONFEX) in SMX Manila. It's a three-day wellness event and their 4th staging of the Philippines’ pioneering and premier expo dedicated to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. This year, HWONFEX aims to inspire Filipinos to lead a healthier, happier, and more meaningful lives. The three-day wellness event was attended by hundreds of visitors and health enthusiasts.

Here are some of the highlights of the event last Sept. 5-7 at SMX Manila.

Lively open forums following key conference sessions.

Long lines of people eager to try alternative healing techniques being offered in some booths.

Travel on wellness benefits

Conference/session on integrative and alternative healthcare practices.

Demonstrations on hilot, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture, chiropractic, and the ancient Indian ayurveda.

HWONFEX 2025 was formally opened by Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, who commended the event’s objective of promoting the Philippines as a wellness tourism destination and affirmed the government’s support for the movement.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco

“It is said that when you arrive in the Philippines, you arrive as a guest and yet, you leave as a family,” she pointed out in her keynote address. ”That is the Filipino brand of wellness, that is the Filipino brand of care. This is what all of you have championed for our country."

Ms. Catherine Turvill, Wellness Tourism Association of the Philippines (WeTAP) President, who gave the opening remarks, said: “The region is coming together to make ASEAN a wellness hub. We are not competing; we are working together. There is a very strong call now for us to go back to our roots and highlight it for the world.”.

The opening ceremony was attended by guests of honor who graced the event were: TPB COO Margarita Montemayor Nograles, Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Dr. Emmie Liza Perez-Chiong, DOH Undersecretary Ms. Farwa Hombre, Department of Agriculture Assistant Secretary Atty. Christopher Anarna, Former DOT Secretary Mina Gabor, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) OIC, Health Services Dr. Janice A. Saraza, DOT Undersecretaries Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, Verna Buensuceso, Rica Bueno, and Ferdinand Jumapao, Assistant Secretaries Judilyn Quiachon and Ronald Conopio, DOT Director Dr. Paulo Benito S. Tugbang, and Deputy TESDA Director General, Ms. Nelly Nita N. Dillera.

The mind-body connection, which focused on how physical health brings about mental health and vice versa, was a recurring theme throughout the conference. Perfectly aligned with the HWONFEX’s tagline “Go and Get Better!”, this theme proved to be very popular as shown, for instance, by the enthusiastic audience reception to the presentations of Dr. Lourdes “Honey” A. Carandang, a clinical psychologist and national social scientist who talked about “Mental Health and Resilience in the Workplace,” and Mr. Edric Mendoza, Maxwell Leadership Philippines President who discussed “Leadership in Wellness.” 

Another much applauded number was the talk on “Revitalizing the Body” by Dr. Atoie “Doc Atoie” Arboleda, a naturopathy practitioner who included spiritual health as an added benefit to the mind-body synergy.

The focus on traditional and alternative healthcare practices was another HWONFEX feature that attracted huge interest. Not only did visitors make this conference session, one of the highlights of the event’s opening day, a standing-room-only affair, but they also flocked to the booths that were offering these traditional practices. 

The well-attended conference session on integrative and alternative healthcare practices was conducted by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC), an attached agency of the Department of Health. Dr. Ma. Teresa C. Iñigo, PITAHC Director General, opened the session that featured talks and demonstrations on hilot, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture, chiropractic, and the ancient Indian ayurveda.

But the PITAHC session was more than just a showcase of traditional wellness practices. As Dr Iñigo emphasized, it was part of the agency’s campaign to reclaim the Philippines’ healing heritage and to promote safe, effective, and accessible healthcare options for all Filipinos.

As Macky Beltran Soriano, HWONFEX organizer, said in her welcome remarks, this yearly event was – and will continue to be – inspired by the Bible’s Book of Job 21:23, which proclaims that God’s design is for us to live in full strength and vitality in our appointed time, free of pain and diseases.

“Regardless of age or health, we thrive by honoring that design and embracing preventive care or what we call wellness,” she pointed out. “So let’s go and get better. Let’s all say yes to wellness.”

This pioneering holistic wellness conference and expo is co-presented by the Wellness Tourism Association of the Philippines (WETAP) in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Philippines Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC).

It is likewise supported by the Department of Health (DOH), Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). The event is organized by Mblessed Travel and Marketing, Inc., and made possible with the support of the following private sector partners: 

● Sponsors: IAM Worldwide Corporation as Platinum; MWell and Newport World Resorts as Gold; Pink Ventures Inc., Zynergia, Shinagawa, Glorious Industrial and Development Corporation Philippines, Zen Institute, Seda Manila Bay, and Enjoy Health, and as Silver 

● Event Partners: Philippine Association of Nutrition (PAN), Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA), Philippine Tour Operators Association, Inc. (PHILTOA), Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT), Ex-link Events, Urban Farmers Philippines JLT Travel & Tours, Digital Circles, Market Social, IQ Capture, Philippine Wild Raw Honey Corporation, SMX Convention Center, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Philippine Marketing Association (PMA), and St. Paul University. 

● Media Partners: Asian Dragon Magazine, Asian Journal, WheninManila.com, The Manila Times, Manila Standard, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Balikbayan Magazine, Philippine Star, ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, and DOOH PH.

It was a fun and relaxing day at the Health and Wellness Confex. I personally enjoyed the treatment, free consultation and product samples at all booths. Congratulations to HWONFEX and I look forward to next year's conference.