Nanay Senya: The manghihilot/albularyo from Baclaran

It was 1983. Nanay Senya was in an operating room diagnosed with ectopic pregnancy.
She recalled bleeding profusely as the doctors surrounding her performed a surgical operation.
All she could do was close her eyes and pray. Suddenly, Nanay Senya felt a presence. She
opened her eyes, and there she was—the Mahal na Nazareno. “Maski yung Doktora, nagulat sya
hindi nya nakita na may pumasok sa akin, na hinawakan ako, walang nakakita, ako lang. Yung
parang pinagmilagrohan ako ng Mahal na Nazareno” This is how Nanay Senya believed she
acquired her healing powers, and decided to embark on her healing career as an albularyo and
manghihilot.
As an albularyo and manghihilot, she has treated many diseases like cough, fever,
measles, chicken pox, and even breast cancer. One patient of hers has been trying to get pregnant
for years. Nanay Senya performed hilot on the patient, and now the patient has three children.
She recounted her experience with a boy she treated from Bulacan. The boy had consulted with
many doctors but they cannot seem to detect his disease. Finally, the boy went to Nanay Senya.
She explained to the boy that he was experiencing pangkukulam because he failed to pay his
debts to his brother-in-law. “Sabi ko sige, sa loob ng tatlong araw dudumi ka, palalabasin natin
yan. Ang dinumi nya mga bato, batong puti. Tapos may mga bahid ng lumot. Ngayon para
makita namin kung ano yun, pinalagyan kong Clorox at pinakiskis kong ganun. Batong buhay
kung tawagin, mga batong maliliit. Pitong pirasong pinalabas sa pwet. Lumiit ang tiyan.
Kinukulam nga kasi sya.” Some patients like the boy have sought treatment from medical
doctors but only she claims to have cured them. There are also those who have their illnesses
consulted with her first. Once the treatment is successful, the patients do not see the need to
consult a doctor anymore. According to Nanay Senya, ”Iba ang kaya ng doctor na hindi ko kaya,
at iba naman ang kaya ko na hindi nila kaya”.
Despite being an albularyo/manghihilot, she still believes in doctors as they were the ones
who cured her disease many years ago. For Nanay Senya, the knowledge and years of practice of
doctors are deserving of respect. That is why she does not stop her patients from seeking help
from doctors. However, she does believe herself that not all illnesses can be detected and treated
by doctors such as a pilay on one’s back. For nanay, doctors are not able to detect if a patient
has a pilay unless the patient undergoes an X-ray. But just by touching the patient’s back, Nanay
Senya is already able to detect where the pilay is and after performing hilot, the patient is healed.
According to Nanay, doctors also do not treat patients who experience pangkukulam because in
the first place, they consider the patients crazy. But as an albularyo, she believes that a person
can experience pangkukulam so what Nanay Senya does is to hold the patient’s foot, light it with
a match, and the patient gets healed.
When asked how she finds out if a patient has an illness, “May kumukutob sa akin, ‘nak”
she responded. She believes that all her knowledge on illnesses and healing comes from the
Mahal na Nazareno which is why the patients must listen to her advice. A patient once brought
her child to Nanay Senya, and she advised the patient not to give her child a bath as she was
about to have measles or tigdas. “Kasi pag pinaliguan ang isang batang may tigdas, maaaring
lumubog.” According to Nanay, the child died because the parents refused to listen.
 Throughout Nanay Senya’s healing career, she has always believed in the healing power
of coconut oil,which she buys from Baclaran and Quiapo, to heal those experiencing kulam and
usog. She claims that her coconut oil is better than the ones sold at drugstores as her coconut oils
are natural and chemical-free. When performing hilot on patients, especially children, she
believes that their skin is too sensitive for the harsh chemicals found in drugstore oils. In healing
her patients, Nanay Senya also uses a tawas or a candle which is melted using a heated spoon. As
the candle is being melted above a basin of water, the wax solidifies and forms a shape which
Nanay interprets to determine the cause of the patient’s illness. If a patient is diagnosed with a
stomach ache, the lamig will be removed using ginger. “Halimbawa masakit ang tiyan mo,may
lamig, ipadidikdik, tapos ipalalagay sa isang kamiseta, ipatatapal sa tiyan. Lalagyan ng parang
bigkis Yung lamig anak, makukuha yun, mawawala na yung sakit ng tiyan mo.” Nanay Senya is
also able to heal a patient even without his/her presence. She narrated that a patient of hers from
Ilo-Ilo experienced pangkukulam because she rejected a suitor. The girl’s stomach became
enlarged as a result of the pangkukulam so the parents of the patient visited Nanay and gave her a
picture and a piece of the girl’s clothing. According to Nanay, after she whispered a prayer to the
picture and the clothing, the girl urinated and her stomach became smaller. However, the girl was
not yet fully healed so the parents requested Nanay Senya to go with them to Ilo-Ilo but Nanay
Senya feared riding airplanes. Unfortunately, the girl’s stomach became enlarged again, and
died.
. According to Nanay, there were many times she wanted to give up on being an
albularyo/ manghihilot because she herself was getting tired and sick. On one instance, Nanay
Senya experienced a major illness, and decided to stop healing, but her condition got worse. So
she went to Baclaran and knelt towards the cross as she promised that she will continue healing,
then Nanay Senya got better. During our interview, a mother came in with her child, and Nanay
Senya excused herself to deal with the patient. Nanay Senya began pouring coconut oil on her
hand,and applied it on the baby’s stomach. According to Nanay, the baby had kabag. After
around 5 minutes of performing hilot on the baby, she gave the tawas she made to the mother,
and instructed her to put the tawas under the baby’s pillow. The mother offered Nanay Senya a
plastic of mangoes but Nanay Senya declined. After the mother and child left, Nanay Senya went
back to her seat to continue our interview, and with tears in her eyes, she said “Ginagawa ko ‘to
dahil sa kanya”,as she pointed to the small figure beside her of the Mahal na Nazareno.