Feast of the Miraculous Ina Poon Bato

Photo from: flickr.com

In the remote province of Zambales were the Aetas lived for centuries comes a simple shrine where the Zambaleños flock for years who chose to live among them, and get this, even before the arrival of the Spanish missionaries. This is the wonders of the Nuestra Señora dela Paz of Zambales, or more popularly knows as Ina Poon Bato or “Apo Apang” to the Zambaleños.

Ina Poon Bato has garnered several devotees over the years from the locals of Zambales, it even reached its neighboring provinces, even reaching Metro Manila, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao even outside the Philippines and several miracles were reported through her intercession and it continuously happen up the present. Read More: http://pintakasi1521.blogspot.com/2017/01/ina-poon-bato-doting-queen-of-zambales.html

Photo from: https://beachanatic.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-churches-of-zambales.html

After visiting the Cathedral of Iba, we headed to our next destination and I can say that this is one of the most interesting highlights of our pilgrimage tour because we got the chance to visit the church where the patroness of Zambales is enshrined. The miraculous image was original enshrined in Poon Bato, Botolan Zambales, the site where the apparition took place but the church was buried under lahar during the Mount Pinatubo eruption.The new home of Apo Apang can be found in Poon Bato,Loob Bunga Resettlement Site.

The Church and its simple facade. It notably has a celtic cross on top and two symetrical belfry on both sides. Mother Of Poon Bato or better known as the Apo Apang is the patroness of Botolan , Zambales who said to appear in the town of Poon Bato hundreds of years ago. The apparition of Apo Apang took place long time ago before the arrival of the Spaniards when Philippines was inhabited by an overwhelming amount of Aetas, black skinned people who lived along the coastlines into the steep hills and mountains. Read more: http://bluedreamer27.com/the-ina-poon-bato-church-in-botolan-zambales/

Photo from: https://allevents.in/botolan/ina-poonbato-feast-day/1662907243950746

The “Fiesta Poon Bato,” (literal translation is Feast of the Sacred Stone) held in January, is a religious festival that attracts over half a million people each year. The festival venerates Ina Poon Bato also known as Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage), the oldest known image of the Virgin Mother in Asia. The Barrio of Poon Bato located in the Botolan, that is host to the image and the fiesta, was completely destroyed during the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption. The icon was saved and moved, along with the barrio inhabitants, to nearby Loob Bunga Resettlement Area. Read More: http://directory.ucanews.com/dioceses/philippines-iba/443

Photo from: https://playintourist.blogspot.com/2017/01/ina-poon-bato-visit-to-miraculous.html