Written by Jess Tirol
Proem
This coming July 2010 we will again celebrate the
Sandugo Festival. The Sandugo rite was our pre-Spanish way of forging friendship with other people. The Sandugo rite in itself is worth commemorating.
What would be wrong is to equate the Sandugo Festival only with the Sandugo between Si Katuna and Gen. Legazpi. There were many Sandugo rites performed within the realm of the Bo-ol Kingdom. Even the Sandugo between Ferdinand Magellan and Rajah Kulambo of Limasawa was within the Bo-ol Kingdom. According to the recorded statement of Si Katuna, Cabalian, Southern Leyte and Limasawa was part of the Bo-ol Kingdom.
Wrong Bohol Day
A significant error is the celebration of "Bohol Day" on July 22 every year. The original decree creating the province of Bohol is still available at the National Archives. Both the files of the Royal Audiencia and Governor General have the date March 3, 1854.
The date July 22 is the result of the mistranslation into English of the original Spanish text. If you will read carefully the original Spanish text, the date July 22, 1854 was the date when the approved Royal Decree arrived in the Philippines from Spain.
Wrong Sandugo Day
The Sandugo or Blood Compact between Si Katuna and Gen. Legazpi has become famous. However, it is popularly believed to happen on March 16, 1565. This date is an erroneous conjecture of Dr. Gregorio Zaide after he corrected nine (9) days from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar by subtracting instead of adding.
The correct date is March 25, 1565 as certified by the notary of the fleet Hernando Riquel. This date is already accepted by the National Historical Institute.
Bohol Republic Day
Many Boholanos will cite the Bohol Republic. They always refer it wrongly to the time of Francisco Dagohoy.
During the Philippines Revolution, the Province of Bohol became isolated from the government of General Emilio Aguinaldo. The officials in Bohol decided that they will make Bohol into an independent republic.
On June 11, 1899, the provincial officials and the mayors of the towns gathered at the Provincial Capitol Building and approved a constitution, elected officials, and declared Bohol as an independent republic.
Until the present day we still fail to celebrate the Bohol Republic Day on June 11 of every year.
Dagohoy Independence Day
It is commonly accepted that when Francisco Sendrijas, alias Dagohoy, started his revolution in Bohol against Spain, it was our independence day.
The question is, what was that particular date? We have no particular written record of the date but we can reconstruct it through the available records.
June 29 (now moved to June 30) is the feast day of Saint Paul who is the Patron Saint of Inabanga, Bohol. On this date everybody was required to attend the church mass.
One person called "Ibong" did not attend. The Spanish parish priest, Fr. Gaspar Benito Morales, labeled him an apostate and ordered his arrest.
Early the next day 30 June 1744 Sagarino Sendrijas, the constable and elder brother of Francisco Dagohoy went in search for Ibong. Ibong was found, but he refused to be arrested. Instead he engaged Sagarino in a duel. During the duel it was Sagarino, the constable who was killed. A messenger was sent back to Inabanga to notify the priest and Francisco. It should be noted that Francisco was a Cabeza de Barangay or equivalent to today's Barangay Captain.
Francisco hurried towards the site but on the way he and his companions met the companions of Sagarino carrying the dead body towards Inabanga. The group arrived at Inabanga in the evening of June 30, 1744.
Fr. Morales, the parish priest refused to be disturbed for the night. The next day, July 1, Francisco Dagohoy demanded from the priest to perform the religious rites and bury Sagarino. Fr. Morales refused for the reason that Sagarino died in a duel and besides, Francisco Dagohoy will not pay the burial fee of two (2) pesos.
The records say that Francisco became angry and left the body of his brother Sagarino for three (3) days rotting in front of the church. On the fourth day, after seeing that his brother was not yet buried, Francisco Dagohoy declared his defiance against the priest and the Spanish government.
July 1 to 3 are three days. So the fourth day is July 4, 1744, the day when Francisco Dagohoy effectively started his revolution.
Therefore the Independence Day of Bohol, if reckoned from the Dagohoy Revolution, is July 4, 1744. It is exactly 32 years ahead of the American Independence Day on July 4, 1776.
If we want to celebrate Bohol's Independence Day on July 4, we still have time.
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Topic: Wrong Sandugo Day and Wrong Bohol Day (Read 1537 times)