Thursday, July 24, 2008 Republic of Bohol By Jinggoy Salvador
WELCOME to Bohol -- located in the Central Visayas Region, capital is Tagbilaran City, and 10th largest island in the country in the heart of the Visayas.
Consider this your invitation to visit this province for this VIM-very important month. Perfect time to visit if you are in the mood for a month-long partying around Bohol while feeling nostalgic about its history. That is if you were about half a century old.
The month of July is the Bohol Sandugo month in Bohol. Expect 30 days of festivities commemorating the Blood Compact between Raja Sikatuna, a local chief, and Captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, a Spanish explorer, on March 16, 1565.
Although by now they already have chosen their muse (last July 18th), which is one of the highlights, and you missed the chance to that title, there are still a couple of activities we can join in and that will be this Sunday, the 27th: the Sandugo reenactment and the street dancing competition.
Well if you have been to Bohol (derived from the word Bo-ho or Bo-ol), I bet you have been to Barangay Bool in Tagbilaran City and had one obligatory photo in this landmark -- the blood compact monument. It is a historical event and this spot was marked.
The people of Bohol already had a culture of their own and are said to be the descendants of the last group of inhabitants who settled in the Philippines called pintados or "tattooed ones."
The earliest significant contact of the island with Spain was when Spanish explorer named Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived in Bohol to look for spices and gold. But he was not welcome and he had to convince the native chieftains that they were not Portuguese people who raided the islands of Mactan in 1521.
Bohol then became the seat of the first international treaty of peace and unity between the native king Datu Sikatuna and Spanish conquistador and representative of the King of Spain, Miguel L˘pez de Legazpi through a blood compact alliance. We all know the historical undertaking as the Sandugo and the date, March 16, 1565, the friendly relations was forged.
If it was a momentous event for Bohol, it should be as well around Asia for this Blood Compact on March 16, 1565 is considered as the first "Treaty of Friendship" between Europe and Asia. This is celebrated in Bohol every year during the Sandugo Festival and the blood compact is also depicted on the provincial flag and seal.
“Republic of Bohol,” with pride and conviction, this is what the Boholanos refer to their island homeland. Politically, it was administered as a residencia of Cebu but became a separate politico-military province in1854 together with Siquijor.
Trivia 1: Carlos P. Garcia, the fourth president of the Republic of the Philippines (1957-1961) was born in Talibon, Bohol.
Trivia 2: Because of the Spanish colonial period, several municipalities in Bohol have names of towns in Spain like Getafe. This municipality is sister city of a Spanish city of the same name. In Getafe, a street is named Isla de Bohol (Island of Bohol), a unique name for a street in Spain.
