Tagbilaran… A Glimpse
Historical inconsistency:
Miguel Lopez de Legaspi sailed from Navidad, New Spain [Mexico] across the Pacific Ocean and landed in the shores of Cebu on February 13, 1565. After seeing the natives hostile to him he weighed anchor and sailed for Leyte and Camiguin but the wind drifted his boat to Bohol. In adjoining stories the Purtuguese led Legaspi to Bohol. Another was along the way he met a Mohammedan pilot in the high sea and led him to Datu Sikatuna in Bohol. But on his way to Leyte and Camiguin he bypassed Bohol after leaving Cebu maybe because he was still looking for somebody that will lead him to Sikatuna.
In Arcila’s, “Jose S. Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation†2001 revised edition, according to Rizal's sources, Pagbuaya gave Legaspi sea pilots. Hence, it is very likely that the pilots brought Legazpi to Bohol or, if not, informed Legazpi about Bohol when the expedition was near the island.
It looks like history is making Rizal a rumormonger while he was an exile in Dapitan in 1892-93. He wrote to his friend in Germany Ferdinand Blumentritt about Pagbuaya aiding Legaspi by giving him sea pilots. Why is this story of “giving sea pilots to Legaspi†an event that happened 327 years ago blown up in our history books? Did Rizal really write a letter to Blumentritt? If so, what has Blumentritt have to do with that information that happened 327 years ago? Or is this only a whitewash by Spanish historians to cover up a sinister plot between Legaspi and Sikatuna in deceiving the Visayans?
The conquest of Cebu and Bohol:
On 15 April 1565, a month after the blood compact allegedly happened Legazpi took Bohol in the name of the King of Spain without a single drop of blood. He went back to Cebu, allied with Sikatuna, bombarded and conquered it, and on April 27, 1565 founded Cebu. He built the first Spanish settlements, naming it Villa del Santisimo Nombre de Jesús (Town of the Most Holy Name of Jesus) and Villa de San Miguel (Saint Michael's Town). It did not say if Legaspi built a church. The first two Spanish settlements in the Philippines but no church built. But the church of Baclayon commenced its construction in 1596 a span of 24 years after the death of Legaspi in Manila. Legaspi already changed his capital city and died, still no church in Cebu. Is this not also a contradiction?
There was also another Boholano chief who made a blood compact rite with Legaspi after Sikatuna. His name was Si Gala. It is impossible for two chiefs to be living in one place. So Si Gala must be a chief somewhere in Bohol. In the town of Candijay we can find the remains of ancient people discovered at some ledges of a cliff. Chances are that those skeletal remains are that of the people of Si Gala. The name Cimagala is a prominent name in Candijay and I would not discard the possibility that they are the descendants of Si Gala.
After 1565 there was no more mentioned of Sikatuna. He lived in obscurity or maybe his blood compact with Legaspi blew out and became an embarrassment that caused him to migrate to other islands in the Visayas. I cannot recall if there is any other person with a name Sikatuna, Katuna or Katunao in Bohol. But in Aklan there is a name that sounds like “Katunao†because my mother in law told me that her great great grandparents came and originated from Bohol. According to her, “they were fishermen.†Their surname is “Tugnaoâ€. Is it a coincidence?
The Church of Baclayon:
In 1595 the Spanish authorities in Manila delegated to Bohol two Jesuit priests Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez as the first Spanish missionaries or doctrineros in the area. I think this is still debatable because in my view, enforcing a religious faith cannot be easily handled by two priests but I believe there was a presence of a military force to back up the enforcement of the Catholic faith. I mean they enforced it by force.
According to a written account that, shortly after their arrival a visita was erected on the spot. This assertion looks like easy to say but the truth is, it cannot be done by just a snap of a finger but by force because, you cannot change a culture, belief and the way of life of a people overnight. So the building of the visita is through the use of force. A visita is a small extension chapel inside a church or a church that is under a jurisdiction of a parish. Now we can visualize the situation that there was already a building when the visita was erected. The more amiable way in welcoming the two priests according to one of the stories that, the villagers provided a house for the two priests when they arrived in Baclayon. We can make discernment by this story if it was a house or a temple. It is also possible that the house mentioned by the historical account is the religious temple of the people. I tend to believe that Fr. Juan de Torres and Fr. Gabriel Sanchez built the visita inside the adjoining wing of the temple probably after burning all what they believed as idols and things that were contrary to the Catholic religion.
The church of Baclayon which is situated facing just about 25 to 30 meters away from the seashores seems to tell us that before the church was erected there was another edifice or building which welcomed worshippers coming by canoe or boat from the sea. I have this intuitive feeling that the church of Baclayon is founded on an ancient Majapahit or Vijayan temple. Just like the church of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico is founded in an ancient temple of the Aztecs.
Salamat!
WN
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