Preserved body draws visitors to Bohol town

TAGBILARAN CITY—Hundreds of visitors flock to the seemingly preserved remains of Potenciana Saranza, known as Inday Potenciana, in Anda, Bohol province, especially during Nov. 1 and 2 for various reasons.

Some asked to be healed while others prayed for special favors, like passing the board exams, said caretaker Reyboy Silud.

“Devotees come to the shrine with different wishes and petitions,” he said

Others continue to visit the shrine to fulfill a promise after their wishes were granted.

One of them was Toni Dilig, a motorcycle-for-hire driver, who claimed he was healed after praying to Inday Potenciana.

“I was sickly when I was a child so my mother brought me to the Inday Potenciana shrine,” said Dilig, 65.

Cured of ailment

Another devotee, Cecilia Cadenas, 61, a resident of San Miguel town, also claimed that she was cured of her ailment.

“I’m one of the devotees who come here to pay our respects,” she said.

The Church has not declared the supposed healing miraculous.

Born on May 19, 1927, Potenciana was the eldest of six children of Mamerto Cagata Saranza, a farmer, and Pilar Amplayo Escobal in Anda. Her only surviving sister is Victoria Saranza-Tampos.

Teacher

Silud said the parents of Potenciana had to sell their rice field and carabaos to support her education because she wanted to become a teacher.

She later became a teacher at Bincalan Elementary School in Misamis Oriental province where she was remembered as a kind and hardworking mentor.

She died on April 1, 1953, about a month before her 26th birthday, after the truck she was riding crashed into a tree.

She was buried in the cemetery in Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.

Ten years later, her parents dreamed that her remains should be brought to her hometown in Anda.

Exhumed

When they exhumed her body, Potenciana’s parents were surprised that her remains were still intact. She was buried near their house in Poblacion, near Quinale Beach in Anda.

After a year, a health officer told the family to transfer her remains to the municipal cemetery. Silud said that just like the first time her body was exhumed, her remains were intact.

Such a phenomenon quickly spread in Bohol and nearby provinces in Mindanao, enticing people to come to Anda and see her body.

Glass case

Her remains were placed inside a glass case inside a shrine beside the town cemetery, about 2 kilometers from the town proper.

The shrine is well maintained.

Flowers and images of saints are placed at the tomb and at the corners of the shrine. Paintings of the Saranza family and Potenciana are on display.

Silud said Potenciana’s body had turned black, which he believed, was due to the acid poured into the remains during exhumation.