Where is the Actual Blood Compact Site?
For a very long time, Tagbilaran City was believed to be the site where the Blood Compact was held. Findings in 2005 showed that the site was in fact located in a different place, around 17 kilometers from where it was believed to have been held for hundreds of years. In 2005, the National Historical Institute officially declared in Resolution 4, series of 2005 that the exact location of the blood compact site is in Loay, Bohol (not Tagbilaran City) and March 25, 1565 as the exact date when the blood compact was held/
What Kids Should Know
What is the Blood Compact?
The marker tells us what the Blood Compact is all about. I translated it into English as shown in the caption.
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The Blood Compact (Sandugo literally means One Blood in English):
The Blood Compact happened on March 25, 1565 at the Bay of Hinawanan, Loay between Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna of Bohol, onboard the flagship San Pedro of Spain. The Blood Compact was made by drinking wine mixed with blood taken from a cut from the breast of the two leaders. This sealed and marked the friendship between Spain and the Boholanos and the start of Christianity in the Philippines.
Why is the Blood Compact important: It is the Philippine's First International Treaty of Friendship.
Participants: Miguel Lopez de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna of Bohol
Where It Is Held: On board the flagship San Pedro docked at the Bay of Hinawanan, Loay, Bohol
How was the Blood Compact performed: NOT by drinking each other's blood. They took a small amount of blood taken from a cut on the breast of the 2 leaders (not from the cut on the arm as some people think) and mixed it in wine. Then the 2 leaders drank the wine to seal the treaty of friendship. |
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At the left is the marker, at the center is the platform where the blood compact was held, and at the back of the platform is the well. |
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The site is by the roadside.
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The well is at the back of the platform |
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Sikatuna's Well:
This is "the well between the rivers" mentioned in the latest document. It was where the soldier's of Legazpi fetched water. It was built around 1200 AD and is 20 meters deep |
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This is the replica of houses seen by the Spaniards built near the bay where the flagship San Pedro docked. |